Xi-Biden meeting – When Xi canceled his attendance at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi to deal with domestic issues – tumultuous politics and a deteriorating economy – many doubts were cast over his attendance at the APEC 2023 summit in San Francisco. Though the issues persist, Xi flew to California to meet his US counterpart, Joe Biden, last week in a widely anticipated meeting. Paradoxically, this trip was also driven by domestic considerations. Xi faces political pressures and constraints at home to repair strained ties with the US and according to Sue Mi Terry at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), “there (was) an incentive for this meeting to go really well.” Biden similarly had huge political incentives to make this meeting a success as he seeks to show gains reaped from his China policy in the run-up to a crucial election. With so much riding on the success of the meeting, the expectations were kept deliberately low and both sides worked on delivering. The two leaders reached an agreement to resume military-to-military communications. Another significant area of collaboration centered on curbing fentanyl production. China agreed to regulate exports of components used to make the opioid, which Biden hopes will decrease drug trafficking in the United States. Biden and Xi agreed to establish an intergovernmental dialogue on AI in their bilateral meeting, even as the two superpowers race to dominate the space.

They struggled to find common ground on numerous geopolitical flash points and the United States also refused to lift export restrictions on advanced computer chips, which China has argued hinders its industry ambitions. Despite the frictions, the Sino-US talks will have brought some relief to APEC members who have been concerned over the worsening trajectory of the rivalry between the superpowers.