What Did Biden, Xi Say in Opening Remarks of Highly-Anticipated California Summit?

US President Joe Biden welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US city of San Francisco on Wednesday, where the two met for a summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit.

The two leaders met and shook hands at the Filoli estate, a venue south of the city, along with their retinues of diplomats and advisers.

"Mr. President, it's good to see you again,” Biden told Xi. “We spent many hours together over the last 10 to 12 years and to host you in the United States is a great honor and a pleasure.”

Tensions between the two nations have become sharper in recent years as the US has pursued a strategy of “great power confrontation,” positioning itself against the rise of China, which it claims intends to destroy the US-led postwar global order. However, Biden has denied claims he seeks to “contain” China, despite the language of American strategy documents.

"There is no substitute to face-to-face discussions," Biden told Xi. "I value our conversation because I think it's paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication."

"We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict," he said.

"For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation have unbearable consequences for both sides," Xi told Biden in his opening remarks.

"[The] China-US relationship, which is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, should be perceived and envisioned in a broad context of the accelerated global transformations," Xi noted.

The Chinese leader said that the two nuclear superpowers, with the world’s two largest economies, can coexist in peace despite their differences. "Planet Earth is big enough for two countries to succeed - one country’s success is an opportunity for the other," he said.

"It is an objective fact that China and the United States are different in history, culture, social system, and development paths. However, as long as they respect each other, coexist in peace, and pursue win-win cooperation, they will be fully capable of rising above differences and find the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other," Xi told Biden.

"I look forward to an in-depth exchange of views and to reach new understandings with you on strategic and overarching issues critical to the direction of Chinese[-US] relations and our major issues affecting world peace and development," Xi added.

The Wednesday meeting is expected to touch on a variety of topics, including the use of artificial intelligence and US restrictions placed on chip exports to China, among other hot-button issues. Both nations moments earlier reaffirmed a commitment to cooperate on climate matters.

Xi's initial arrival in the US on Tuesday marked his first trip state-side since 2017, when the Chinese president met with then-US President Donald Trump in Florida. Xi last held an in-person meeting with Biden in Indonesia in 2022.