Summary

  • US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have agreed to resume high-level military communications, according to officials and reports

  • China had severed this vital line after Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in 2022. The US has been keen to restore it to avoid potential military clashes

  • The meeting at a historic estate near San Francisco marks the first time the rival leaders have spoken in person in more than a year

  • Relations plummeted when the US accused China of sending a spy balloon across its airspace earlier this year, but have since started improving

  • The world leaders were also expected to discuss the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, international trade, fentanyl trafficking, and Taiwan

Live Reporting

Edited by Brandon Livesay

  1. Road closures and protesters in San Francisco

    Max Matza
    Reporting from San Francisco

    The flight to San Francisco was more empty than usual, the pilot announced on the loudspeaker when I left Seattle at 5:30am local time.

    Leaving the airport here in San Francisco there was no sign of protesters shutting down the 101 highway, as local networks had warned might happen ahead of the Biden-Xi meeting.

    Many people have decided to stay home due to security road closures and blockages by protesters, my taxi driver told me.

    Outside the entrance to the conference centre, a group calling themselves "grandmothers demand an end to fossil fuel" held signs alongside pro-China protesters waving the country's red flag.

    Around the corner, Falun Gong followers performed Tai Chi moves as other adherents of the faith – which banned in China – held a banner saying “the world needs truthfulness compassion forbearance”.

    Homeless people, who were largely removed from the area ahead of the summit, linger in the streets. One man doubled over at a bus stop sat next to a box of the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.

    I’m now deep inside the press filing centre of the building, where a men’s chorus group has just started performing.

    It’s going to be a long day.

  2. Xi in US as his Chinese Dream sputters

    Tessa Wong
    Asia Digital Reporter

    Chinese President Xi Jinping disembarks from a plane as he arrives at San Francisco International airportGetty Images

    When Xi Jinping stepped off his plane in San Francisco for the Apec summit, it was in circumstances very different to the last time he landed on American soil.

    Five years ago, when he was wined and dined by Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Xi was in charge of a China still on the ascendancy.

    It had a buoyant economy outperforming forecasts. Its unemployment rate was among the lowest in years.

    While consolidating his power for a second term, Xi proudly pointed to China's "flourishing" growth model as something other countries could emulate.

    By then, cracks were already appearing in what he calls his "Chinese Dream". They have only widened since then.

    One view is that because of this, Xi is in a more vulnerable negotiating position this time, though expectations of major breakthroughs are low.

    You can read more from this analysis here.

  3. What has Biden said about the China meeting?

    US President Joe Biden said today was about getting back to a “normal course of corresponding, being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another in a crisis”.

    Speaking with reporters on Tuesday ahead of the Apec meeting, Biden said they were trying to change the US-China relationship for the better.

    He said they were not trying to “decouple from China”, and he wanted the two nation’s militaries to “still have contact with one another”.

  4. The complex background behind today’s meeting

    Barbara Plett Usher
    US State Department correspondent

    How has Biden and Xi's relationship changed?

    US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are to meet in the San Francisco Bay area.

    The encounter will be only their second face-to-face meeting during the Biden presidency.

    It will be wide-ranging, US officials said, with the Israel-Hamas war, Taiwan, war in Ukraine and election interference to be discussed.

    Relations between the two countries deteriorated earlier this year.

    The US accused China of sending a spy balloon across its air space.

    An American warplane shot it down off the coast of South Carolina.

    There was also a visit to Taiwan last year by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which led China to break off communication between the two nations' militaries.

    Biden is "determined" to restore those channels, two senior administration officials said last week, but China appeared "reluctant" to do so.

    You can read more here.

  5. Biden and Xi meet for high-stakes bilateral

    Brandon Livesay
    US reporter

    Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    The two world leaders are in the San Francisco Bay Area for the Apec summit and they will spend several hours together in a bilateral meeting today.

    It’s a rare meeting for Biden and Xi, who have only met face-to-face one other time during Biden’s presidency.

    Diplomatic relations between China and the US have been difficult this year, with heightened tensions after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon in February.

    The agenda will include a series of issues that Biden and Xi do not see eye-to-eye on. There will likely be discussions on the closed military communications, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and fentanyl trafficking.

    Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates and analysis.