WH: Joe Biden to meet Xi Jinping in San Francisco this month; with the goal of advancing China relations

The White House has confirmed that US President Joe Biden will have a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this month in San Francisco during the APEC Leadership Summit.

“The president is looking forward to it. And that, I think should answer your question,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday at her daily news conference when asked about reports of a Biden-Xi meeting in San Francisco.

President Biden has extended an invitation to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the APEC Leadership summit. The most likely candidate to represent India in the Cabinet is a minister.

“We’ve been talking about it. The President said he’s looking forward to meeting — to meeting with President Xi. And — and so, not going to get into details about this meeting that’s going to happen in November. It’s going to be in San Francisco. It’s going to be a constructive meeting,” Jean-Pierre said.

“Look, what I’m saying is that we’re aiming to have a constructive conversation, meeting between the leaders in San Francisco in November. So that’s what I’m saying. That’s what’s going to happen in November. We’re going to have constructive conversation in San Francisco,” she said.

She said that the Biden Administration’s approach to advancing relations with China remains unchanged.

“This is intense competition, right, that we have said that we want to move forward with China. We understand that and intense competition means intense diplomacy. That’s what you’re going to see. That’s what the president is going to be doing and having a tough conversation, but important conversation,” she said.