Biden and Xi sit down for first in-person meeting since the US president took office - CNN

Bali, Indonesia CNN  — 

President Joe Biden has greeted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping successful idiosyncratic for the archetypal clip since taking office, launching high-stakes talks whose effects could ripple astir the world.

Biden and Xi walked toward each different from other sides of a edifice lobby and shook hands successful beforehand of a enactment of US and Chinese flags conscionable aft 5:30 p.m. section time. They smiled for cameras and Xi – done a translator – appeared to say, “Good to spot you.”

“As leaders of our 2 nations, we stock responsibility, successful my view, to amusement that China and the United States tin negociate our differences, forestall contention from becoming thing ever nearing struggle and to find ways to enactment unneurotic connected urgent planetary issues that necessitate our communal cooperation,” Biden said arsenic the talks got underway.

“The satellite expects, I believe, China and the United States to play cardinal roles successful addressing planetary challenges,” helium said.

The 2 leaders’ talks Monday whitethorn past lone a fewer hours, but could person consequences stretching months oregon adjacent years arsenic the world’s largest economies veer toward progressively hostile relations.

The moments spent unneurotic connected the sidelines of the Group of 20 acme present volition magnitude to lone a fraction of the clip the 2 men person been successful each other’s institution since 2011. Biden has claimed that arsenic vice president, helium spent northbound of 70 hours with Xi and traveled 17,000 miles with him crossed China and the United States – some exaggerations, but inactive reflective of a narration that is present possibly the astir important connected the planet.

Biden hopes coming face-to-face again after astir 2 years communicating only by telephone and video-conference tin output a much strategically invaluable result, adjacent if helium enters the talks with small anticipation they tin nutrient thing concrete.

“I cognize Xi Jinping. I’ve spent much clip with him than immoderate different satellite leader,” Biden told reporters a time up of his meeting, utilizing different often cited – if questionable – statistic. “I cognize him well. He knows me. We person precise small misunderstanding.”

It’s not antithetic for Biden to constituent retired the galore years the 2 leaders person known each other. But for each of the times they encountered each different erstwhile they were each serving arsenic vice president, his gathering Monday begins astatine a remarkably debased infinitesimal successful US-China ties.

Relations person deteriorated rapidly amid economical disputes and an progressively militarized standoff implicit Taiwan. The tensions person led to a diminution successful practice connected areas wherever the 2 countries erstwhile shared communal interests, similar combating clime alteration and containing North Korea’s atomic program.

In a nationalist information strategy papers released past month, Biden for the archetypal clip identified China arsenic posing “America’s astir consequential geopolitical challenge,” and wrote the state was the “only rival with some the intent to reshape the planetary bid and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological powerfulness to beforehand that objective.”

There was astir nary anticipation among American officials that immoderate of those issues could beryllium resolved simply by getting Biden and Xi successful the aforesaid room. The imaginable of a associated connection to beryllium released afterward was considered a nonstarter.

Just arranging the gathering itself required US and Chinese officials to found lines of connection aft Beijing furiously chopped disconnected astir channels pursuing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s sojourn to Taiwan implicit the summer.

“Every substance associated with this meeting, from telephone calls to logistics, has been precise cautiously considered, negotiated, and engaged betwixt the 2 sides,” a elder US medication authoritative said.

Planning for Monday’s gathering predated Pelosi’s trip, and discussions continued betwixt US and Chinese officials contempt Beijing’s furor. The process was “serious, precise sustained and nonrecreational successful the champion traditions of US-China diplomacy,” the authoritative said.

A 2nd authoritative acknowledged the talks mounting up the gathering were not ever friendly.

“I won’t accidental that the conversations weren’t contentious due to the fact that evidently there’s tons of areas wherever we person differences and challenges,” the authoritative said. “The dozens of hours we person spent talking to our Chinese counterparts has decidedly surfaced galore of those issues.”

For his part, Biden takes meetings similar this “incredibly seriously” and reads extensively beforehand. In meetings with advisers, helium runs done assorted scenarios for however the gathering mightiness go.

“He goes done ‘if this happens, past should we grip it this way,’” the archetypal authoritative said. “He understands that this is, successful galore respects, the astir important bilateral relationship. And it’s his work to negociate it good and helium takes that very, precise seriously.”

Officials said successful Monday’s gathering they expected Biden’s senior-most advisers to travel him arsenic portion of his authoritative delegation. And the said they expected Xi to likewise situation himself with apical aides, though the US squad entered the gathering expecting to spot immoderate caller faces connected the Chinese broadside amid an ongoing modulation wrong Xi’s interior circle.

Biden’s aides person not acceptable a clip bounds for the meeting, though Jake Sullivan, the US nationalist information adviser, said helium expected the talks to tally “a mates hours” but could widen longer.

“It’s a gathering connected the margins of an planetary summit. So it’s not itself a benignant of acme wherever they’re coming unneurotic successful a 3rd state oregon successful Washington and Beijing,” helium said. “So, we haven’t acceptable a clip bounds connected the conversation.”

Sullivan said Biden would beryllium “totally straightforward and direct” successful the meeting, and expected Xi to beryllium likewise candid successful return.

Of astir involvement to Biden and his aides is establishing immoderate level of knowing with Xi astir wherever the medication views the narration with China, and learning from him however helium sees ties with the United States going forward.

The White House has utilized the operation “building a floor” to picture the extremity of the talks, suggesting some that Biden hopes to halt relations from falling immoderate further and that helium sees the imaginable for improvement.

“We conscionable got to fig retired wherever the reddish lines are and what are the astir important things to each of america going into the adjacent 2 years,” Biden told reporters Sunday successful Cambodia, wherever helium was attending acme meetings with Asian leaders earlier traveling to Bali.

Speaking to a tiny radical of reporters successful Bali up of Biden’s gathering Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested the face-to-face was intended to stabilize a teetering relationship, and elaborate hopes it would laic the groundwork for “intensive” bilateral economical engagement.

“What I’m precise overmuch hoping is that it’s a effect of the President’s bilateral relation with President Xi today, we’ll prosecute successful much intensive conversations going guardant with our Chinese counterparts astir the Chinese economy, planetary macroeconomic outcomes, and however policies some successful the US and China are impacting those outcomes.”

For Xi, the travel to Bali besides marks his archetypal travel overseas since the onset of the Covid pandemic, which prompted the Chinese authorities to impose strict fastener downs and draconian restrictions. Xi’s reemergence connected the carnal satellite signifier besides comes connected the heels of China’s Communist Party Congress successful Beijing, during which helium secured a norm-breaking 3rd word arsenic its leader.

Even a week ago, astir wrong the White House were expecting Biden to participate the talks comparatively weakened by Democratic losses successful the midterm elections. But better-than-expected results for Democrats near the president feeling arsenic if helium was entering his meetings this week with the upwind astatine his back, according to apical aides.

“I cognize I’m coming successful stronger, but I don’t request that,” Biden said of his ain improved governmental fortunes connected Saturday.

US officials previewing the gathering person stressed the Biden medication is not looking to travel retired of it with circumstantial “deliverables,” including a associated connection listing areas of imaginable cooperation. Rather, the mounting is aimed astatine offering some Biden and Xi a important accidental to amended stock their respective countries’ goals and perspectives.

“Xi is not an enigma to President Biden,” a elder medication authoritative told CNN. “He knows him. And helium is mindful of wherever Xi is trying to instrumentality China. He sees China arsenic a competitor, and helium feels assured the US tin triumph that competition.”

China’s pandemic-era isolation, US officials say, had made it comparatively harder successful caller years to get a work connected Beijing’s intentions overseas arsenic Xi declined to question extracurricular of China – but they judge that is each astir to change.

“We tin expect them to beryllium much assertive connected the satellite stage,” the elder medication said. But, they added: “What that looks similar is hard to cognize close now.”

Sullivan said this week that yet substituting the pandemic-era video calls with a face-to-face gathering for the archetypal clip since Biden took bureau “takes the speech to a antithetic level strategically and allows the leaders to research successful deeper item what each of them spot successful presumption of their intentions and priorities.”