Image source, Reuters

In a briefing with reporters, the French presidency says Emmanuel Macron will tell China's Xi Jinping it is in Beijing's "interest" to "pressure" Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

The French President will meet the Chinese leader Tuesday morning on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

He is expected to tell him "your interest, like mine, is to put pressure on Russia so it returns to the negotiating table and respects international law".

In the last few moments - following the ending of the meeting between the two leaders - the White House has released details of what President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke about.

A quick summary of the range of issues discussed include:

• President Biden told Xi the US will continue to "compete vigorously" with China
• But, he said that competition "should not veer into conflict"
• Biden was said to have objected to China's "coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan"
• He also raised Russia's war with Ukraine in his talks with Xi
• Xi agreed with Biden that nuclear war must never be fought
• Biden raised concerns about North Korea's "provocative" behaviour
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China to follow up the discussions

Tessa Wong
Reporting from Bali, Indonesia

Just a little while ago, Xi and Biden ended their meeting at the Mulia hotel, where Xi is staying.

Biden is now back at his hotel, the Grand Hyatt, where he is due to give a press conference any minute now.

Their three-hour meeting was longer than expected. US officials had earlier briefed reporters that a long discussion was a possibility.

Given the wide range of issues the two leaders had to discuss, with simultaneous translation – Xi does not speak English in such meetings – it may be a good sign that they took the time to hash things out.

Biden had said he hopes both sides can clearly lay out their "red lines" and explain their interests, while China’s foreign ministry said they want to avoid misjudgements.

All these are key particularly over the issue of Taiwan, where heightened tensions in recent months have led many to fear that a misstep by the US, China or Taiwan could led to military conflict or even outright war.

Hundreds of journalists are on standby now for Biden's sum-up of the meeting, where he will also take questions.

After three hours or so, the high-stakes meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping has finished.

We expect to hear from the US President shortly so stay with us.

Image source, EPA

As UK PM Rishi Sunak prepares for his first G20, he's already shared his plans for the summit - including potential meetings with leaders Xi and Biden.

He says: "In the wake of Covid and Russia's war, many countries around the world are facing similar economic challenges to us at home.

"So it'll be good to discuss with other leaders how we can fix the global economy.

"Of course, I'm also going to take this opportunity to condemn Russia's illegal hostile activity in Ukraine.

"And lastly, I'm looking forward to sitting down and building some strong relationships with other leaders like President Biden from America and the prime ministers of Japan, Australia and India."

When asked if that could include China, he adds: "President Xi is here and like all the other leaders, hopefully I will have a chance to talk to him too."

Image source, Reuters

Not only is it significant that the Chinese leader is holding talks with his American counterpart. It's also one of Xi Jinping's first foreign trips since the world's first Covid-19 lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

He took a tour of Central Asian countries in September - prior to which he hadn't left the country since early 2020.

While the rest of the world has been reopening, China has followed a controversial "zero Covid" strategy which has seen lockdowns imposed at a moment's notice; a cause of rare public dissent in the country.

However, some of these tough and economically damaging restrictions were softened earlier this month, apparently coinciding with President Xi's greater willingness to travel overseas.

Pictures have now appeared which show UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joining other world leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali - for the meeting of the G20 group of major economies.

Image source, PA

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, one of the main items expected to be on the agenda for the Chinese and American leaders during their ongoing talks is the thorny topic of Taiwan.

The key thing to understand here is that there's a debate over the status of the island.

China views Taiwan as a renegade province which is destined to one day be reunited with the mainland - by force if needed.

However, Taiwan has many characteristics of an independent state. It's a self-ruled democracy, and people there see themselves as being separate from Beijing - whether or not independence is ever officially declared.

The United States has long tried to walk a tightrope. Officially, it only recognises the government in Beijing. However, President Biden has repeatedly said the US would defend Taiwan if Beijing's troops ever invaded. The White House has always looked to walk back his comments.

Tensions have been building recently - and peaked in August when Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan. China responded with large-scale military drills nearby.

• Read more here

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Image source, Reuters

This face-to-face meeting between the American and Chinese leaders has partly been set up for the "optics", says an expert on Asian politics - but at the same time, the talks are "not entirely meaningless".

For both men, the main purpose of the meeting is to not look "weak" on the world stage, says Prof Pierre Landry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. For the last few years, bilateral talks have happened virtually - due to both the pandemic and a souring relationship between the two superpowers.

But the tradition of holding informal talks in a third country - on the sidelines of a bigger summit - has a precedent of breaking a political deadlock, Landry notes.

He says it was this method that "played an important role in diplomatic ice-breaking during the Cold War years" - a reference to tension between the US and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies during the mid-20th Century.

However, "these talks did not necessarily happen at the level of heads of state," Landry points out.

As the US and Chinese presidents continue their talks, other world leaders have been arriving on the Indonesian island of Bali.

They're visiting for a G20 summit - a meeting of the heads of the world's major economies, which officially kick off tomorrow.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Tessa Wong
Reporting from Bali

Image source, Reuters

As the sun sets in Bali, Xi and Biden remain sequestered in the Mulia hotel, running close to the two-hour mark of their meeting.

US officials don’t expect it to last much longer. But with Biden’s press conference scheduled to take place at 21:30 local time (13:30 GMT), it’s evident they are also prepared for talks to drag on if needed.

The pair are thought to be discussing tensions over Taiwan, global economic security, North Korea, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is also understood the US hopes the meeting will smooth out tensions that had spiked with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.

Biden and US officials have gone to great pains to clearly signal this aim of conciliation in recent days. Biden has stressed repeatedly that the US does not want conflict with Xi, and he told Xi earlier that the US and China must show they “can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict, and to find ways to work together”.

Biden also said he was “committed to keeping the lines of communication open between you and me personally” as well as their governments across the board, and that the world expected their two countries to play a role in addressing climate challenges and food shortages.

Xi appears to be on the same page. He acknowledged the China-US relationship was in “such a situation” that it has caused concern, “and it is not what the international community expects of us”.

“We need to chart the right course for the China-US relationship,” he told Biden, given that “the world has come to a crossroads”.

Both leaders have basically acknowledged they know what’s fully at stake here, and signalled to the global community that they will act responsibly. We will soon find out what they’ve agreed on – and the path they have set for the rest of us.

This is the pair’s first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office in 2021.

But the two have held five phone or video calls since then- and have met multiple times in the past during the Obama administration.

In their last virtual meeting in September, the pair discussed topics including Ukraine, Covid and Taiwan.

Xi also criticised Washington after US House leader Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August. He warned the “mishandling of the Taiwan question” would lead to a “disruptive impact on bilateral ties”.

That call in September concluded with both “presidents [agreeing] that the call was constructive” - though little seemed to come out of it.

China froze some cooperation on climate issues and the pandemic after Pelosi's Taiwan visit.

Unblocking some of the channels frozen after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan would represent a good outcome from the meeting, a senior Biden administration official briefed reporters earlier on Monday.

Beijing claims self-governing Taiwan as its territory. Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the mainland.

Image source, Getty Images

This meeting between the leaders of the US and China is happening on the Indonesian island of Bali - on the eve of a G20 summit.

The G20, or Group of Twenty, is a club of countries whose leaders get together to discuss plans for the global economy. Increasingly, they also touch on other important topics like climate change.

Between them, G20 countries account for 85% of the world's economic output and 75% of world trade, external. They also contain two-thirds of the global population.

The members are the European Union and 19 nations - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. Spain is always invited as a guest.

The summit is also an opportunity for national leaders to meet on the sidelines for one-to-one discussions, in the manner of US President Biden and President Xi of China right now.

Chris Mason
Political editor

In the last few minutes, the UK prime minister’s plane has landed in Bali for the G20 summit.

Rishi Sunak will be greeted shortly by a welcoming party and the British ambassador in Indonesia.

Will Vernon
BBC News, Moscow

Image source, Telegram/ Reuters

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has denied reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been hospitalised in Bali.

“Mr Lavrov and I are reading the news in Indonesia and we can’t believe our eyes – it seems he’s been hospitalised! [Laughing smiley] This really is the highest level of fakes. Well just wait for a global exclusive…” wrote Zakharova on her Telegram channel.

She then posted a video showing a healthy-looking Sergei Lavrov sitting and talking at a table which appeared to be filmed at a hotel.

TASS also posted a selfie of Lavrov smiling, which the news agency says was provided by the minister.

Foreign Minister Lavrov is representing Russia at the G20 on the Indonesian island after the Kremlin announced that President Putin would not attend.

Stephen McDonell
Reporting from Beijing

What Beijing wants from this meeting and what it realistically expects to achieve are two different things.

Both the Chinese and US governments are under no illusion as to how deep the tensions are between the world’s superpowers and won’t be banking on some magic breakthrough to return relations to the way they were more than a decade ago.

For example, while Washington accuses China of coercive trade practices, Xi Jinping’s administration would point to significant US restrictions on China’s emerging technology sector.

Yet it would be a monumental surprise to most observers if either of these hurdles were removed following this meeting.

The best that can be hoped for is already pretty dark.

If Xi and Biden can agree on a series of measures designed to prevent a major accidental conflict between their countries that would be seen as a step forward.

Neither side wants a miscalculation regarding the other’s behaviour to lead to war. The US is speaking about “guardrails” being put in place. This could involve clear communication channels and even a set of rules or perhaps red lines not to be crossed.

Taiwan is the obvious potential flashpoint but not the only one. The war in Ukraine and North Korea’s missile tests have also ramped up Beijing-Washington tensions.

All of these could well be discussed.

Image source, Reuters

In his own opening remarks just now, US President Joe Biden spoke of the importance of avoiding "conflict" between the US and China.

He agreed with his opposite number Xi Jinping that there was "little substitute" for face-to-face talks.

Biden said he was "committed to keeping the line of communications between us open" so that the two countries could "work together on urgent global issues" including climate change and insecurity.

The world "expects" the two nations to work in partnership, Biden added.

Some more from China's President Xi now:

"The world expects the US and China to properly handle the relationship. For our meeting it has attracted world attention. We need to work with all countries to bring about world peace.

"In our meeting we need to have a candid exchange of views on issues of strategic importance… I look forward to working with you."

Image source, REUTERS

Both leaders have now sat down and begun addressing each other.

This is some of what Xi said to Biden:

"Mr President it is good to see you. The last time we met was in Davos, more than five years ago. Since you assumed the presidency, we have maintained contact in online calls. But nothing can substitute face-to-face. And today we have this face-to-face meeting.

"We have gained experience but also learnt lessons. History is the best textbook so we should take history as a mirror.

"Currently the US-China relationship is in a situation and we care a lot about it… as leaders of the two major countries we need to chart the right course.

"We need to find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward and elevate the relationship."

Image source, REUTERS