What’s new: Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden are scheduled to hold a call Friday night Beijing time, the first conversation in months between the two leaders, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
Xi and Biden will discuss China-U.S. relations and other issues with mutual concern, Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the ministry, said Thursday.
The scheduled call is part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the U.S. and China, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday in a statement. The two leaders “will discuss managing the competition between the two countries as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine and other issues,” Psaki said.
The context: The conversation will be the first between Xi and Biden since November, when they held a virtual summit. It also follows a meeting in Rome Monday between National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi.
During the Monday meeting, the two sides discussed accumulating “enabling conditions” to get bilateral relations back on track, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Yang and Sullivan also had a “substantial discussion” of the Russian war against Ukraine, the White House said in a statement.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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