US President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping have spoken by phone, ending a nearly seven-month gap in direct communication between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.
The call was confirmed by the White House and China’s state media, which said the two men spoke early on Friday morning.
Biden initiated the call with Xi at a moment when the two countries are grappling with growing differences over the origins of the covid-19 pandemic, human rights and trade but share issues of mutual concern, including climate change.
The discussion, which lasted about 90 minutes, focused on finding a way forward for the US-China relationship, according to the White House.
The two talked about “areas where our interests converge, and areas where our interests, values and perspectives diverge,” the white house confirmed in a statement.
The 90 minutes call marked the leaders’ second time speaking since the start of Biden’s presidency in January.
During their first call, Biden laid out parameters on engagement, but China has not engaged with working-level US officials in a way that has “satisfied” the Biden administration.
Chinese state media reported the conversation in the last call, between the two world leaders, was “candid” and “in-depth”, adding that President Xi said US policy on China imposes great difficulties on their relationship.
The Chinese report added that both sides agreed to maintain frequent contact.
“If China and the US work together, both countries and the world will benefit; If China and the US confront each other, both countries and the world will suffer. China-US relation is not a choice question that whether it needs to be done well, but a required question that how to do it well,” Xi said, according to the Xinhua report.
During the call, Biden’s message was that his administration wants to ensure “that the dynamic remains competitive and that we don’t have any situation in the future where we veer into unintended conflict,” a senior US administration official told reporters.
However, the White House official said Biden made clear to Xi that he had no intention of moving away from his administration’s policy of pressing China on human rights and other areas where it believes China is acting outside international norms.
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