U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to agree Wednesday on increasing lines of communication and taking other steps to lower the temperature between Washington and Beijing when they meet for talks for the first time in a year.
Biden and Xi, nonetheless, also face many issues likely to divide them, from the future of Taiwan and Chinese territorial claims in parts of the South and East China seas to the imposition of export restrictions over national security concerns.
Senior U.S. administration officials say the two major powers' approaches to the Israel-Hamas war, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and how to handle North Korea will also be high on the agenda when the leaders meet in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Xi will be meeting Biden for a face-to-face summit for only the second time. The last time Xi visited the United States was in April 2017 for talks with then-President Donald Trump.
The meeting, due to take place just before Biden starts hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the U.S. city, follows months of coordination.
For security reasons, the exact venue of the Biden-Xi meeting has not been disclosed by either government, but it is reportedly to take place at the historic Filoli estate, about 40 kilometers south of San Francisco.
The Biden administration has identified China as the United States' top competitor and its "most consequential geopolitical challenge."
The bilateral relationship was under heavy strain earlier this year, particularly after Biden ordered in February an alleged Chinese spy balloon to be shot down over the United States.
Still, Biden has repeatedly said the United States wants to communicate closely with China to reduce misunderstandings and make sure that their intense rivalry does not veer into conflict.
On Tuesday, he told reporters at the White House that the meeting with Xi should be defined as a success if they manage "to get back on a normal course of corresponding, being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another when there's a crisis, being able to make sure our militaries still have contact with one another."
High-level military communication channels between the two countries have been closed since China cut them in protest following a visit in August last year by then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, an island democracy that Beijing claims as its territory.
A source familiar with preparations for Biden's meeting with Xi said earlier that the presidents will agree to reopen some military-to-military channels.
"I think what we are seeking is a comprehensive set of interactions," a senior Biden administration official said on the eve of the meeting.
Biden has also been seeking China's engagement in helping to choke off exports of ingredients for fentanyl, amid a deadly overdose crisis in the United States, and the official suggested that there will be some positive developments.
"We believe that China has taken this seriously. They understand how important this is to the president of the United States and I think we'll see progress on this," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
