Wednesday’s high-stakes conference between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, intended to defuse spiraling tensions between the two superpowers, saw the presidents shake hands for the first time in a year.
At the picturesque Filoli country residence in the California foothills close to San Francisco, where Xi had just emerged from a black limousine, Biden grinned and greeted the Chinese leader before they shook hands on the front steps.
At the much awaited meetings on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Wednesday, each leader has specific goals in mind. The encounter comes after a contentious year for the two largest economies in the world.
Biden and Xi share the desire to infuse more stability into a relationship that is now characterized by disagreements over export regulations, hostilities over Taiwan, the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, among other issues.
