Xi tells Biden he is ‘ready to work’ with Trump, but warns against US-China decoupling
In what is likely the last meeting between the two men, Xi said that ‘only solidarity and cooperation can help humanity’ in these hard times
China’s President Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden that he is “ready to work” with president-elect Donald Trump to improve the relationship and warned against attempts to decouple the world’s two largest economies.
In what was likely their final meeting before Trump takes office, Xi also appeared to criticise the Biden administration’s attempts to restrict the flow of advanced technology to China.
“China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said through a translator at the meeting in Peru’s capital city of Lima.
“Only solidarity and cooperation can help humanity overcome current difficulties,” Xi said. “In an age of flourishing sci-tech revolution, neither decoupling nor supply chain disruption is a solution.”
Humanity is faced with unprecedented challenges. Major country competition should not be the underlying logic of the times
Biden, speaking in response, said he was “very proud” of progress that the two sides have made in establishing bilateral dialogue that he said have prevented open conflict, high-level military-to-military talks, in particular.
“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank,” he said. “These conversations prevent miscalculations and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict.”
