Biden and Xi to meet at APEC

US President Joe Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit scheduled for Nov. 15, senior officials said on Thursday. The long-awaited meeting is intended to stabilize ties between the countries by giving the two leaders a chance to discuss broad global concerns one-on-one. Biden is expected to discuss military issues, including artificial intelligence and Americans held in China, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified. The sources also said the US hopes to reach an agreement to seek Chinese help in combating chemicals used in the production of fentanyl. The meeting will be the first between the two leaders in a year. It will also be the first time the US has hosted the meeting since 2011. Dialogue efforts in US-China relations Washington-Beijing relations, which have come to a standstill due to the crisis caused by a high-altitude balloon belonging to China entering US airspace in February, have been seeing an intensification of high-level contacts since June. Following Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s canceled visit to China in June due to the balloon crisis, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry visited the country in July, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited the country in August. A group of senators led by US Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer also visited China in early October and were received by President Xi Jinping. California Governor Gavin Newsom also had the opportunity to meet with President Xi in Beijing during his visit to China in October. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Washington on October 26-28 and held contacts as preparation for Xi’s possible visit. Wang met with Secretary of State Blinken and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, as well as President Biden, during the visit. China's Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, He Lifing, is also in Washington at the invitation of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.