China’s leader Xi Jinping has told US President Joe Biden that “planet Earth is big enough” for both their countries “to succeed”.
The two leaders have met face-to-face for the first time in a year, amid strained tensions including over Taiwan, a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon, and hacking.
Mr Biden had billed the meeting as a chance for Washington and Beijing to get back “on a normal course” again.
He said on Wednesday the two economic and military superpowers had to make sure that rivalry between them “does not veer into conflict” and they manage their relationship “responsibly”.
The pair shook hands as they held talks at a country house, prior to travelling to a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco, about 30 miles away.
Mr Biden said the goal of the talks was for the leaders to “understand each other”, while President Xi said they bear “heavy responsibilities” for the world.
“For two large countries like China [and the] United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” Mr Xi said. “Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.”
Speaking at the Filoli estate in Woodside, California, he added: “It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides.”
Since they last met in November 2022, fraught relations have been further strained by the US downing of a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon that flew over America and by differences on the self-ruled island of Taiwan, as well as China’s hacking of a Biden official’s emails.
Mr Xi said a lot had happened since their last meeting, telling the media: “The world has emerged from the COVID pandemic, but is still under its tremendous impacts. The global economy is recovering, but its momentum remains sluggish.”
After the meeting, Mr Biden wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “I value the conversation I had today with President Xi because I think it’s paramount that we understand each other clearly, leader to leader.
“There are critical global challenges that demand our joint leadership. And today, we made real progress.”
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Mr Biden will be focused on keeping lines of communication open to prevent misunderstandings which could lead to conflict between the nations.
He was expected to press Mr Xi to use China’s influence over Iran to make it clear that Tehran or its proxies like Hezbollah should not take action that could lead to the Israel-Hamas war expanding into a wider conflict.
Mr Biden was also set to defend the US strengthening its export controls on semiconductor chips.
Mr Xi wants assurances from Mr Biden that the US will not support Taiwan independence, start a new cold war or suppress China’s economic growth.
He is also keen to show America that China is still a good place to invest.