Saul Loeb archives Agence France-Presse The American president, Joe Biden (right), and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, on the island of Bali, Indonesia, on November 14, 2022
US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the 15th November in San Francisco for the first summit between the two powers in a year, AFP learned from sources close to the matter.
The two sides have not yet set the date but have arranged for the meeting to take place on Wednesday, November 15, said a US official and a Washington-based diplomat, both requesting anonymity.
The meeting would be held on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, with the United States attending the summit as host and China as member.
The summit between the two presidents has not been confirmed by the chancelleries, but both parties have suggested that they expect it to take place.
The spokesperson for the White House President Karine Jean-Pierre said on October 31 that the United States hoped to have a “constructive conversation in San Francisco” with China.
The summit would be the first between the two leaders since November 2022 in Bali, on the sidelines of a G20 summit. At the time, they each described the talks as positive, saying they were looking for ways to avoid conflict between the two major world powers.
But earlier this year, the States -United States had denounced the presence above their soil of what they described as a Chinese spy balloon.
China, for its part, was indignant at the growing American pressure, in particular restrictions on electronic chips, with Washington fearing that Beijing will use them for military purposes.
Tensions are also particularly high over Taiwan, which Beijing does not rule out seizing by strength.