Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to have an unfavorable reaction when President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he still believes Chinese President Xi Jinping is a dictator.

"Well, look, he is," Biden said after the two world leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco in an effort to ease U.S.-China tensions.

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"He's a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different than ours," Biden said.

Blinken was captured seemingly wincing at the president's response during the news conference hours after Xi and Biden met on the outskirts of San Francisco in the first face-to-face meeting in a year — although it is not entirely clear if Biden's comment about Xi was the reason for his displeased reaction.

Blinken visited China in July, meeting with Xi to discuss Taiwan, trade, and Russia's war in Ukraine. Ties between the two countries have deteriorated in recent months, and little information about specifics was provided on Blinken's two days of talks with senior Chinese officials.

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The Biden administration has faced growing pressure ahead of the meeting between Xi and U.S. CEOs to press the Chinese leader about human rights conditions in China.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the secretary of state's office for comment.