In a recent meeting, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told President Biden that his country is “ready to work with the new administration,” as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over.
Two leaders get together on saturday on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. Mr. Biden is expected to urge Xi to dissuade North Korea from deepening its support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. It marks the meeting in person for the first time they met in Northern California last November.
Without mentioning Trump by name, Xi appeared to be signaling concern over the incoming president’s protectionist rhetoric. on the campaign trail could send US-China relations to another valley.
“China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, develop cooperation and manage differences in order to work towards a stable transition of China-US relations for the benefit of both,” Xi said through an interpreter.
LEAH MILLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Mr. Biden, meanwhile, spoke in broader strokes about their relationship and not just the past four years, but their long relationship.
“Over the past four years, China-US relations have had ups and downs, but with the two leaders, we have also engaged in fruitful dialogue and cooperation, and generally achieved stability,” he said.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi, flanked by top aides, huddled around a rectangular table in a spacious conference room at Lima’s Defines Hotel and Conference Center.
There is much uncertainty about what will happen to US-China relations under Trump, who campaign promises to pay a rate of 60%. about Chinese imports.
Bobby Djavaheri, president of Los Angeles-based Yedi Houseware Appliances — which manufactures its products in China — told CBS News in an interview this week that such tariffs “will decimate our business, but not only our business. It will decimate all small businesses that depend on imports.”
Trump has also proposed revoking China’s Most Favored Nation trade status, removing all imports of essential goods from China and banning China from buying US farmland.
Already, many American companies, including Nike and eyewear store Warby Parker, have diversified their sources from China. Shoe brands Steve Madden said it plans to cut imports from China by as much as 45% next year.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden administration officials will advise Trump’s team that managing intense competition with Beijing will be the most important foreign policy challenge they face.
This is a significant moment for Mr. Biden as he completes more than 50 years in politics. He sees his relationship with Xi as one of the most important on the international stage and is putting a lot of effort into developing it.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi first got to know each other during trips to the US and China when they were both vice presidents, an interaction that both said left a lasting impression.
“For more than a decade, you and I have spent many hours together, here and in China and in between. And I think we’ve been dealing with these issues for a long time,” Mr. Biden said on Saturday.
But the last four years have presented a stream of difficult moments.
The FBI this week offered new details about the federal investigation into the Chinese government’s efforts to hack U.S. telecommunications networks. Preliminary findings have revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans working in government and politics.
US intelligence officials have also assessed that China has increased sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology to Russia that Moscow uses to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weapons for use in the war against Ukraine.
And tensions rose last year after Mr. Biden’s order shooting down from a Chinese spy balloon passing over the United States.
