Joe Biden signals potential meeting with Xi Jinping at APEC summit in San Francisco

US President Joe Biden indicated the possibility of holding a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco next month, AP reported.

“There has been no such meeting set up, but it is a possibility," Biden told reporters when asked about the prospects of a face-to-face meeting with the Chinese leader.

Biden and Xi have not engaged in any discussions since their last meeting in November, which took place on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

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White House representatives have consistently expressed their desire for the two leaders to engage in talks, and members of the administration have been actively pursuing efforts to secure a meeting with the Chinese side.

Tensions between the world's leading economies have remained consistently elevated throughout the past year.

In this period, the Biden administration successfully intercepted a Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the entire United States. Chinese authorities were also implicated in a cyberattack targeting the emails of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Furthermore, the U.S. government has imposed restrictions on the export of advanced computer chips to China.

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The two countries' differences have also been exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and China's increased assertiveness in the Taiwan Strait.

AP reported that Beijing has stayed on the sidelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But the White House has publicized a US intelligence assessment indicating that Beijing has weighed assisting Moscow with weaponry.

Despite the differences, there have been stepped-up efforts in recent months by the two sides to manage the relationship.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, declined to comment on the status of a possible Biden-Xi meeting in San Francisco, but noted in a statement that the two countries “are in communication on bilateral engagement and exchange."

“China and the US need to work in the same direction, clear obstacles and manage differences with concrete actions, and enhance dialogue and expand cooperation in good faith,” he added.

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Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi held talks last month on the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. That meeting came after Secretary of State Antony Blinken,Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Raimondo, and climate envoy John Kerry have all traveled to Beijing in recent months to meet with top Chinese officials.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is set to lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to China next week, AP noted. 

(With inputs from AP)