The US and Chinese presidents agreed to cooperate after years of deteriorating relations between the two countries

On 15November, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in SanFrancisco. This is the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders in a yearand Xi's first visit to America in four years.

The meetingtook place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit atthe historic Filoli Historic House & Garden and lasted about four hours.

Open competitive differences

At thebeginning of the meeting, Biden told Mr Xi: "We have known each other fora very long time. We haven't always agreed... but our meetings have always beenfrank, direct." He added that "it's extremely important that weunderstand each other in a real way, leader to leader," CNN reported.

At thefinal press conference, when asked whether he trusted Xi Jinping, the USpresident said: "Trust, but verify, as the old saying goes. That's exactlywhat I'm doing". At the same time, the American leader described relationsbetween the United States and China as "competitive.

"Myduty is to make them (relations - Ed.) rational and manageable so that they donot lead to conflict. That's what I do... To find a place where we can cometogether and where we can find mutual interest... And that's exactly what we'regoing to do. I know this man, I know his way of doing things, I've looked himin the eye - we have differences. He has a different view on many things than Ido, but he has been honest," Joe Biden said.

Defence Ministries of the two countries torestore communication lines

During thetalks, the presidents of the United States and China agreed to restore thelines of communication between their defence ministries, which Beijing hadsuspended after HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022.

"Weare resuming military-to-military contacts, direct contacts. It wasinterrupted. This is how accidents and misunderstandings happen. We've returnedto direct, open, clear, understandable, direct communication on a directbasis," Biden said, according to The Independent.

A seniorWhite House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the meeting"constructive" and said that Biden and Xi expressed a desire to keeplines of communication open between the two countries, including throughdialogues at various levels between the US Department of Defence and thePeople's Liberation Army of China.

This willinclude direct talks with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinesecounterpart as soon as Mr Xi names him.

Theofficial also said that there would be "operational meetings" of"senior" commanders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff and the commander of the US Pacific Command, who would interact withtheir counterparts "to be able to discuss military practices".

Beijing asked not to interfere in the USpresidential election

During themeeting, Joe Biden warned Xi Jinping against interfering in the upcoming USpresidential election in 2024. When asked if he trusted Xi, Biden replied:"Trust, but verify: "Trust but verify... that's what I do."

"Weare in a competitive relationship, China and the United States. But my duty isto make them rational and manageable so that they do not lead toconflict," the president added.

China must stop producing precursor chemicals

The WhiteHouse is also touting an agreement reached between Biden and Xi that China muststop producing and trading precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, a deadlydrug that has claimed millions of lives across the United States.

A seniorofficial told reporters that Mr Biden pressed Mr Xi on the issue, telling hisChinese counterpart that fentanyl has become "one of the worst drugproblems the United States has ever faced". He also said that the Chineseleader had agreed to take action in accordance with a plan developed by US andChinese negotiators.

"We'vebeen working intensively with every element of the Chinese system on a planthat involves the Chinese using a series of procedures to go directly afterspecific companies that produce precursors for fentanyl... they're taking aseries of steps to dramatically reduce those supplies," the official said.

"Thatwill set them back for a while, and obviously we'll want to see if Chinacontinues to follow through on those steps. In many ways, these are importantsteps, and we think they're important, and the president thinks they're animportant central thing that we can do in the U.S.-China relationship for theAmerican people," he continued, adding later that the agreement contains"a significant set of steps that the Chinese have agreed to take in tryingto address the fentanyl problem."

Xi Jinping promised not to attack Taiwan

The Chineseleader also told Biden that his country has no immediate plans to take militaryaction against Taiwan in the coming years.

Accordingto a US official, Mr Xi told the US president that he hoped for a peacefulreunification of China with Taiwan, outlining the conditions under which forcecould be used and arguing that the island's fate is the biggest threat toUS-China relations.

TheIndependent's source also said that in response, Joe Biden told Xi Jinping thatthe US was committed to maintaining peace and stability in the region, whichthe president believed could be achieved by maintaining the status quo andrespecting China's respect for Taiwan's elections.

Xi Jinpingsaid through an interpreter that "relations between China and the UnitedStates have never been smooth over the past 50 years or more", adding that"turning our backs on each other is not an option".

"PlanetEarth is big enough for two countries to succeed," Xi Jinping said.

When askedwhat he considers a "success" of the meeting with Xi, Joe Biden said:"To get back to a normal process of correspondence: to be able to pick upthe phone and talk to each other in a crisis, to be able to make sure that ourmilitary is still in contact with each other."

Joe Bidenalso added that the talks with Xi were "some of the most constructive andproductive discussions we've had".

History of the US-China confrontation

Biden andXi Jinping last met on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit inNovember 2022, and the Chinese leader has not visited the United States in thepast four years, primarily due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Themeeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation leaders' summit, capped months of careful diplomatic efforts by anumber of senior administration officials to lay the groundwork for theresumption of head-to-head talks after the breakdown in relations caused by theFebruary shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon off the US east coast.

The incidentwith the flying objects over US territory was also the result of aprovocative move by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022. In response,Beijing conducted a series of military exercises nearby, including live-fireexercises in Taiwan's territorial waters and in the air defence identificationzone.

The Chinesegovernment also responded to the United States by suspending bilateralnegotiations on climate change and ending all dialogues between the USDepartment of Defence and the People's Liberation Army of China. In particular,bilateral talks between military commanders and senior officials of the US andChinese defence ministries were suspended, as well as regular contacts onmilitary and maritime security, the return of illegal immigrants, criminalinvestigations, transnational crime and illegal drug trafficking.