INTERNATIONAL: China’s President Xi Jinping has called the U. S. President,”old friend.” It is the first time that two world leaders meet virtually. They don’t have a face-to-face meeting yet since Biden became president and the last time they spoke it was via telephone in September. The two world leaders have stressed their responsibility to the rest of the world to avoid conflict as the heads of the two top global economies opened their closely watched talks.

Speaking through an interpreter, China’s Xi has said that right now, both China and United States are at critical stages of development. The world's two largest economies and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China and the United States need to increase communication and cooperation. They should each manage their domestic affairs well and at the same time, shoulder the share of international responsibilities and work together for the most noble cause of world peace and development. This is the common aspiration of the people in China and the United States as well as the people of all countries in the world, and it is also the common mission of the leaders of China and the United States.

He added, a sound Chinese-U.S. relationship is required for advancing the two countries' respective development and for safeguarding a peaceful and stable international environment, including finding effective responses to global challenges, such as climate change and the COVID pandemic. China and the United States should respect each other, coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation. I stand ready to work with Mr. President, to build consensus, take active steps and move China-U.S. relations forward in a positive direction. Doing so would advance the interests of our two peoples and meet the expectation of the international community."

To which, President Joe Biden has responded that he is happy that they have found time to meet and look forward to the candid straightforward discussions. The US President highlighted the two countries’ responsibility as leaders is to ensure that the competition between China and United States does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended. He points out that they need to establish some common guardrails. To be clear and honest, and work together where interests intersect, especially on vital global issues like climate change. The two countries bilateral relationship evolves, and that will have a profound impact not only on both countries, but the rest of the world.

The talks, which were initiated by the U.S. President Biden began at 8:46 a.m. on Tuesday morning Beijing time, were intended to make the relationship less acrimonious. The U.S. president smiled broadly as the Chinese president appeared on a large screen in the conference room.