Bloom: "Biden and Xi Jinping to Hold First Virtual Summit Next Week" (Comprehensive)

U.S. President Joe Biden (right in the photo) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (Photo source: Bloomberg)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time since taking office. Although the two leaders have spoken twice by phone in February and September, this will be their first exclusive summit in either virtual or face-to-face format.

On the 9th (local time), Bloomberg News, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, reported this while stating that the exact date of the summit is still under negotiation.

Previously, Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor, and Yang Jiechi, Chinese Politburo member in charge of foreign affairs, met last month in Zurich, Switzerland, and agreed on a virtual summit between President Biden and President Xi within this year.

The G20 summit held in Rome, Italy, at the end of last month was expected to be the first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders, but it was canceled due to President Xi’s absence. President Xi has not traveled abroad since the resurgence of COVID-19.

Ahead of the summit, both sides are reportedly discussing many agenda items. There had been speculation that the reopening of consulates and easing of visa issuance might be agreed upon during the talks.

A source said, "The reopening of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu, China, and the Chinese consulate in Houston, U.S., will not be addressed in this summit."

The summit is expected to take place amid rising tensions between the two countries over Taiwan, South China Sea conflicts, and China’s nuclear weapons expansion. Although the Biden administration has managed to arrange the first virtual summit, it is anticipated that achieving a major breakthrough to improve U.S.-China relations will be difficult given the ongoing conflicts.

Regarding the holding of this summit, spokespeople from the White House and the State Department declined to comment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.