Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet his US counterpart Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 30th APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit in San Francisco on November 15.
This will be the first meeting between the two world leaders in the last one year since the frayed US-China ties were ruptured over the spy balloon controversy earlier this year. The two largest economies of the world crossed swords over the issue with Xi accusing the US of trying to suppress China and Biden calling him a dictator.
The relationship between the two nations soured further with unfolding of the Israel-Hamas war. While Beijing shares friendly ties with Tehran, the principal supporter of the Palestinian militant outfit, Washington's firm ties with Tel Aviv have come under strain over recent racist remarks by the Israeli finance minister.
What to expect?
Discussions between Xi and Biden over the Israel-Hamas war will be watched keenly. “Aside from issues of trade and competition, Biden is expected to broach the war in Gaza with Xi. Beijing has a warm trade and diplomatic relationship with Iran, a country that helps support Hamas and other militant groups in the Middle East, and Biden is expected to stress to Mr. Xi that the United States will respond to any expansion of the war caused by Iran," reported The Times.
US sanctions on its technology sector has been troubling China which has the world’s largest semiconductor market. According to Bloomberg, a sign of thaw in the dispute could bolster investor sentiment for a range of companies from Apple Inc. to chip bellwethers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and Nvidia Corp.
“Internet and tech hardware stocks are more likely to move because they got smashed pretty hard, but I think broadly China will benefit,” Conrad Saldanha told Bloomberg. He is a senior portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman’s emerging-markets equities team. “Any dialogue is a positive step for both economies, and at this point China has more to gain from it, given how much the economy slowed down and how much negativity there is in that market.”
Also read: China warns US against suppressing it or risk 'conflict'
Also, China’s foreign direct investment flows were negative for the first time in 25 years in the last quarter. Xi is expected to appeal directly to the US business community. For $40,000 (£32,800), guests can sit at the Chinese president's table, according to the New York Times. Tickets start at $2,000 per person.
According to reports, US officials also stated that the Biden-Xi meeting will produce some concrete results, including the possible re-establishment of military communication between the two nations. "The president is determined to see the re-establishment of military-to-military ties," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CBS's "Face the Nation."
"He believes that having military-to-military communication is necessary to manage competition responsibly and to ensure the competition does not turn into conflict," Jake Sullivan said. "He believes that having military-to-military communication is necessary to manage competition responsibly and to ensure the competition does not turn into conflict.”
Biden may also press Xi on using China's influence on North Korea. This comes amid heightened anxiety over an increased pace of ballistic missile tests by North Korea. According to reports, Pyongyang has reportedly been providing munitions to Russia for the Ukraine war.
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