China’s Xi to meet Biden, Macron and attend G20, APEC next week

BEIJING, China – China’s President Xi Jinping will meet his US counterpart Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and attend the G20 Group of nations summit in Indonesia and the APEC summit in Thailand next week, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday, November 11.

The meeting with Biden, which the White House said would take place on Monday, will be the pair’s first face-to-face meeting since Biden became president.

Biden and Xi last met in person during the Obama administration, and US ties with China have since sunk to their lowest level in decades, most notably since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan, the self-governed democratic island that Beijing claims as its territory.

China is Washington’s main strategic rival and the world’s second-largest economy after the United States. Biden has been seeking stable relations with Beijing despite tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade and a host of other issues.

Xi will visit the Indonesian resort island of Bali for the G20 summit from Monday to Thursday before traveling to Thailand for the APEC summit from Thursday to Saturday, the foreign ministry statement said. – Rappler.com