White House Confirms Biden-Xi Meeting November 15

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has issued a statement confirming that President Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 15 on the margins of the APEC summit in San Francisco - the first contact between the two leaders since last November's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, and Xi's first visit to the US since 2017.

• Jean-Pierre: "The Leaders will discuss issues in the U.S.-PRC bilateral relationship, the continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication, and a range of regional and global issues."
• Jean-Pierre continues: "...the Leaders will also discuss how the United States and the PRC can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align..."
• The Biden-Xi meeting will cap six-months of intense diplomacy from Biden administration officials to normalise diplomatic relations and repair deep fissures which followed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) trip to Taiwan last August and the 'spy balloon' incident in January.
• The bilat comes on the back of major diplomatic breakthroughs and is expected to culminate with Xi and Biden announcing the resumption of military-to-military channels - critical to ensuring that the two countries avoid conflict in the Indo-Pacific.
• Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said this week: “We’re ready to strengthen communication and dialogue with the US at all levels.”
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will hold a second days of talks today with her counterpart He Lifeng, designed to increase transparency and convince Beijing that the US seeks a "pragmatic" but "healthy" economic relationship.