In what was the last meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden as Biden prepares to exit the White House in January, Xi warned Biden to “make the wise choice” to ensure the “peaceful coexistence” of the United States and China.
In the opening remarks of a conversation between the two world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, that touched on Taiwan, the economy, the war in Ukraine, fentanyl production, and artificial intelligence, Xi acknowledged that the U.S.-China relationship has had its “ups and downs,” but maintained that the relationship between the two nations “has been kept stable on the whole.”
However, he pivoted to the consequences of not pursuing cooperation, saying “pursuing vicious competition” “would roil the [U.S.-China] relationship or even set it back.”
Xi also touched on the U.S. presidential election results earlier this month, which could have massive implications for China as President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 60% tariff on imports from China.
With that in the background, Xi maintained that “China’s goal of a stable, healthy, and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged.”
“China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation, and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-U.S. relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” he said.
In his opening remarks, Biden said he was “proud” of the “progress” that has been made since their last in-person meeting in San Francisco just over a year ago, specifically on military communication, artificial intelligence, and drug trafficking.
He then pointed to their past meetings, saying he “once had to count up the number of hours you and I spent alone together.”
“And — so, you know, our two countries cannot let any of this competition veer into conflict. And as I said, that’s our responsibility. And over the last four years, I think we’ve proven it’s possible to have this relationship,” he added.
During Biden’s time in the White House, the U.S.’s relationship with China has been tense. Incidents such as the Chinese spy balloon that drifted across portions of the U.S. and Biden calling Xi a “dictator” twice, including at last year’s APEC summit in San Francisco, brought things to a boiling point.
Biden also kept some of Trump’s tariffs from his previous administration in place, imposing a 25% to 100% rate on products such as steel and aluminum, batteries, and semiconductors.
While Xi expressed readiness to work with the incoming Trump administration, it remains to be seen what his response would be if Trump’s tariff plan is imposed.
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However, in a speech written by Xi but delivered by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at the summit on Friday, he warned that “Unilateralism and protectionism is spreading, the fragmentation of the world economy is intensifying. Economic globalization is faced with severe challenges.”
“Blocking economic cooperation under various excuses and dividing an interdependent world is going back in history,” he added.