Leader of China Xi Jinping China met for the last time with US President Joe Biden on Saturday but was already looking to President-elect Donald Trump and his “America First” policies, saying Beijing was “ready to work with a new US administration”.

During their talks on the sidelines of the annual conference Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation SummitXi warned that stable relations between China and the United States are of great importance not only to the two countries, but also to “the future and destiny of humanity.”

“Make the wise decision,” he warned. “Continue to explore the right way for two major countries to get along well with each other.”

Without mentioning Trump’s name, Xi appeared to indicate his concerns that the next president’s pro-protectionist rhetoric during the election campaign could push the relationship between the United States and China into another valley.

“China is willing to work with the new US administration to maintain communications, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to seek a steady transformation in China-US relations for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said through a translator.

Xi, who sits firmly at the top of China’s political hierarchy, spoke forcefully in his short remarks to reporters. Biden, who is ending more than 50 years of public service, spoke more broadly about the direction the relationship between the two countries has reached. He reflected not only on the past four years, but on the decades the two had known each other.

“We didn’t always agree, but our conversations were always frank and they were always frank. We never joked with each other,” Biden said. “These conversations prevent miscalculation and ensure that the competition between our countries does not turn into conflict.”

Biden was expected to urge Xi to dissuade North Korea And continue to deepen its support Russia’s war on Ukraine. The leaders, with senior aides surrounding them, gathered around a long rectangle of tables in a spacious conference room at the Defense Hotel and Convention Center in Lima.

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China “hosted” the meeting this year, after Xi and Biden met a year ago on the sidelines of the APEC summit in northern California, a gathering hosted by the United States at which they had much to discuss, including China’s indirect support for Russiaand issues of human rights, technology and Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

there Lots of uncertainty About what lies ahead in the relationship between the United States and China in the era of Trump, who promised during his election campaign to impose taxes 60% tariffs On Chinese imports.

Already, several US companies, including Nike and eyewear retailer Warby Parker, have begun to diversify their sourcing away from China. Shoe brand Steve Madden says it plans to do just that Reducing imports from China By up to 45% next year.

In a congratulatory message to Trump after his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Xi called on the United States and China to manage their differences and get along in a new era. In front of the cameras on Saturday, Xi spoke to Biden — but it was clear his message was directed at Trump.

“In a major thriving scientific and technological revolution, neither separation nor disruption of the supply chain is the solution,” Xi said. “Only mutual and beneficial cooperation can lead to common development. ‘Small square, high fence’ is not what a big country should strive for.”

After being received by Xi, Biden ignored reporters’ questions about his concerns about the incoming Trump administration as well as North Korea. The leaders also did not communicate with journalists after they made their brief comments at the beginning of the meeting.

Biden administration officials will advise the Trump team that managing intense competition with Beijing will likely be their biggest foreign policy challenge, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Biden viewed his relationship with Xi as among the most important relationships on the international scene and put a lot of effort into developing it. The two first got to know each other during their travels through the United States and China when they were vice presidents, interactions that both said left a lasting impression.

“For more than a decade, we have spent many hours together, here, in China, and in between,” Biden said. “We have spent a long time dealing with these issues.”

But the past four years have seen a steady stream of difficult moments.

FBI this week View new details about a federal investigation inside Chinese government Attempts to penetrate American communications networks, and preliminary results revealed a “widespread and significant” presence. Cyber ​​espionage campaign It aims to steal information from Americans who work in government and politics.

US intelligence officials have also assessed China Sales to Russia have increased Of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology used by Moscow to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weapons for use in… Its war against Ukraine.

Tensions escalated last year after Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that had crossed the United States.

Biden is looking for something to do Intensifying Chinese participation To prevent an already dangerous moment with North Korea from escalating.

Biden, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday He condemned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s decision Sending thousands of soldiers to help Moscow repel Ukrainian forces that have seized territory in the Russian border region of Kursk.

Biden called it “dangerous and destabilizing cooperation.”

White House officials expressed frustration with Beijing, which accounts for the vast majority of North Korea’s trade, for not doing more to rein in Pyongyang.

The North Koreans also supplied Russia with artillery and other munitions, according to US and South Korean intelligence officials. The United States, Japan and South Korea expressed concern about Pyongyang’s escalation The pace of ballistic missile tests.

Kim has ordered test exercises in the run-up to the US elections this month and claims progress on construction efforts The ability to hit the mainland United States.

Xi and Biden started their day at the leaders’ retreat at the APEC summit, where they shared a photo in which they all wore scarves made from the wool of vicuña, an animal symbolic of Peru. It is common practice for leaders at these gatherings to be given a gift – usually traditional clothing of the host country – to wear for the photo.

& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press