Before the end of the year, Xi and Biden could have their first in-person meeting since they became heads of state, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The summit is likely to occur during Xi’s planned tour of Southeast Asia in mid-November, either on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, or at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, Thailand, immediately after, Chinese government sources told the New York-based paper.
“China supports Indonesia and Thailand as the hosts of the two conferences, and is willing to work with all parties to promote the conference to achieve positive results,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry told WSJ in response to a question about the trip.
When asked about the meeting, US Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said on Friday that the two leaders had discussed such a meeting at their recent virtual summit and directed their teams to work on it.
Biden and Xi met in 2011 and again in 2012, when the two men were vice presidents of their respective countries; however, they have not met in person since Biden became head of state in 2021. They have held several virtual summits, the most recent of which was late last month, at which XI warned Biden that “one who plays with fire will certainly burn himself,” in reference to the US’ aggressively pro-Taiwan policy.
The Southeast Asia tour will also be Xi’s first trip outside of China since the COVID-19 pandemic began, although his January 2020 trip to Myanmar occurred while the virus was still largely confined to China’s Hubei Province.
If Xi follows custom since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, these could be the final months of his presidency, which would end following the forthcoming 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China scheduled for later this year. However, the two-term limit in the Chinese Constitution was abolished in 2018, and many consider it likely that Xi will seek a third term in office.