Biden and Xi to Meet for Virtual Summit Before the Year Ends: US Official

The decision to hold this summit was arrived at by the US NSA Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, a Chinese diplomat.

Then-Vice President Biden meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2013.

(Image: The Conversation/EPA)

The presidents of the United States and the People's Republic of China will meet for a virtual summit before 2021 ends, an official of the American administration said on Wednesday, 6 October, Reuters reported.

The decision to hold this summit was arrived at by the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, a Chinese diplomat and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party during a closed-doors meeting of their own.

The private meeting that was held in Zurich was their first in-person meeting since the heated talks in Alaska seven months ago.

Officials from both countries, however, said that the talks, which were a follow-up of Biden's phone call with Xi last month, were constructive and much less hostile than the Alaska talks, Reuters added.

A US official also said that while the meeting had led to "more meaningful and substantive engagement than we've had to date below the leader level", it should not be perceived as a sign of improvement in relations.

Jake Sullivan had brought up China's aggressive policies towards issue areas like South China Sea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

The Chinese foreign ministry said that both sides had "agreed to take action ... to strengthen strategic communication, properly manage differences, avoid conflict and confrontation."

(With inputs from Reuters.)