Biden says China has 'real problems' ahead of key U.S. summit with Xi

Biden: China has "real problems"; meeting in SF to mend ties, discuss trade, climate change, Taiwan, South China Sea. Both sides hope to re-establish contact, invest in China without giving up trade secrets. Progress made on trade, economic relations, climate change.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that China has "real problems," speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco on the eve of an eagerly awaited meeting in the U.S. city between himself and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

The leaders of the world's two largest economies will huddle on the sidelines of the APEC summit in California for their first encounter in a year as trade tensions, sanctions and the question of Taiwan have fuelled quarrels between Washington and Beijing.

Mr. Biden, who like Mr. Xi arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday, has characterised the meeting as a chance to right ties that have floundered in recent years.

"President Xi is another example of how reestablishing American leadership in the world is taking hold. They've got real problems," he told a fundraising event late Tuesday, hours ahead of his talks with the Chinese leader.

He did not elaborate.

Earlier, the President told reporters at the White House before heading to San Francisco that the U.S. is "not trying to decouple from China. What we're trying to do is change the relationship for the better."

Asked what he hoped to achieve at the meeting, he said he wanted "to get back on a normal course of corresponding; being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another if there's a crisis; being able to make sure our (militaries) still have contact with one another."