Chinese President Xi Jinping has assured his US counterpart Joe Biden that Beijing will work towards a “smooth transition” in China-US relations, on Saturday during a final official tête-à-tête between the two leaders, after an Asia-Pacific summit amid uncertainties linked to Donald Trump’s re-election.
The two countries are expected to “continue to explore the right path” to get along and “achieve long-term peaceful coexistence”.added Mr. Xi, quoted by the state-run China News Agency, at the meeting held at the close of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Joe Biden had arrived just before 4.00 pm local time (9.00 pm GMT) at the hotel where Xi Jinping is staying, for this last meeting before Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. The two leaders have been in the Peruvian capital since Thursday to take part with other heads of state and government in the 31st edition of the Apec summit, which brings together 21 economies accounting for 60% of the world’s GDP.
During a closed-door discussion session in the morning, President Xi spoke of the “challenges such as geopolitics, unilateralism and rising protectionism”. In this context, “we must unite and cooperate”.he addressed the leaders of the Pacific economies, quoted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Towards “isolationism and denial
In closing the summit, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte welcomed the consensus reached on the “Lima Roadmapfor “promote the transition to a formal, global economy”. of the informal economy, which is prevalent in several countries in the region. She then handed over the presidency of Apec to South Korea, which will host the summit in 2025.
The Biden-Xi meeting is their third and last, before the 81-year-old Democrat hands over the presidency in January to Donald Trump. According to US officials, this tête-à-tête aims to capitalize on the historic meeting that helped ease tensions a year ago, at the same annual Apec summit in San Francisco.
Relations between China and the United States have deteriorated in recent years, due to disagreements over trade, the status of Taiwan, human rights and technological competition. Bilateral dialogue has, however, been more or less maintained. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stressed this week “the importance of the meeting between the two leaders, in order to “manage (bilateral) relations in this delicate period of transition”.. According to Mr. Sullivan, the issues of tensions in the South China Sea and the maintenance of lines of communication – military in particular – were also to be addressed during the tête-à-tête, “not just a farewell meeting”..
“Turbulence and unpredictability
The shadow of Donald Trump, who has already appointed hardliners to his team, was to loom over their exchanges. During his campaign, the billionaire promised to protect American industry, threatening to impose tariffs of 10-20% on imported products and up to 60% on those from China.
During his first term (2017-2021), he had already deeply disrupted bilateral economic relations, unleashing a trade war to force Beijing to buy American products and rebalance a trade balance. Already on Friday, Xi Jinping warned “against the rise of unilateralism and protectionism”. and judged that the world was “entered a new period of turbulence and transformation”..
This concern was echoed by Joe Biden, who, on the sidelines of a meeting with his Pacific allies Japan and South Korea, said that “we have now reached a moment of significant political change”.. After Lima, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will travel to Brazil to take part in the G20.