President Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, senior administration officials told reporters on Wednesday.
Senior administration officials expect this will be Biden’s last meeting with Xi as president. This will be their third in-person meeting since Mr. Biden took office. The two leaders met in person for the last time a year agoin Woodside, California.
The meeting comes as Mr Biden seeks to stabilize the Indo-Pacific region and manage competition with China ahead of the inauguration of newly elected President Donald Trump.
A senior administration official who spoke to reporters on the phone Wednesday did not reveal what Mr. Biden would say to Trump about China during their meeting at the White House on Wednesday. Trump is considering China hawks for his administration, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, for Secretary of State.
Biden is scheduled to leave for Peru on Thursday. During his meeting with Xi, Mr Biden plans to take stock of how the US and China have cooperated over the past four years on areas including military communications, counter-narcotics and artificial intelligence, senior administration officials said. Mr. Biden also plans to bring up Russia Xi’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin is growing.
