US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet on November 15 in San Francisco for the first summit between the two powers in a year, AFP learned from sources familiar with the matter.
The two sides have not yet set the date but have made arrangements 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 sides have suggested they expect it to take place.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on October 31 that the United States hoped to have a “constructive conversation in San Francisco” with China.
This 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, at the start of the year, the United States denounced the presence above its soil of what it described as a Chinese spy balloon.
China, for its part, has been outraged by growing US pressure, including restrictions on electronic chips, with Washington fearing that Beijing could use them for military purposes.
Tensions are also particularly high over Taiwan, which Beijing has not ruled out seizing by force.