Biden plans November meeting with China’s Xi in California: report

President Biden plans to meet face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month in an effort to reset relations with the communist power, according to a report. 

The meeting is currently in the planning stages, but is expected to happen in San Francisco during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in mid-November, US officials told the Washington Post on Thursday. 

It will mark the first meeting between Biden, 80, and his Chinese counterpart since the shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon in February that traversed the entire continental US. 

Biden and Xi, 70, last met in November 2022 at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, where the US president told Xi that both nations must “manage their differences” amid rising tensions that have only escalated, with Biden referring to Xi as a “dictator” in June. 

Since that meeting, Xi has accused Washington of leading “containment, encirclement and suppression” efforts against China, presenting “unprecedentedly severe challenges to our country’s development.” 

Xi has also made so-called “reunification” with Taiwan his top priority, which would have serious consequences for the world economy and could lead to a US military response. 

Western leaders also remain concerned that China may provide lethal military aid to Russia as the Kremlin wages war against Ukraine.

The FBI and Energy Department have also concluded since Biden and Xi’s last get-together that the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.

Several Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and climate envoy John Kerry, have traveled to Beijing in recent months in an effort to reinvigorate diplomatic relations. 

However, China has continued to rebuff US military officials since the spy balloon shootdown despite efforts by the Pentagon. 

While the November face-to-face hasn’t been nailed down, a US official told the Washington Post that the possibility of a meeting was “pretty firm.”

Last month, Biden said he was “disappointed” that Xi planned to skip the G20 summit in New Delhi, but teased, “I’m gonna get to see [Jinping]” at some point.