Biden to meet for a final time with Xi this week as a new Trump era of China relations begins

President Joe Biden will meet for a final time this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping as he prepares to hand over power — and the reins of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship — to president-elect Trump in January.

President Joe Biden will meet for a final time this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping as he prepares to hand over power — and the reins of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship — to President-elect Donald Trump in January. The meeting, set for Saturday on the sidelines of a summit of Pacific leaders in Peru, serves as a bookend to the president’s high stakes attempts to position the US against an increasingly assertive Beijing. It will be the third sit-down between the two leaders since Biden took office. Unlike their previous meetings, the Lima talks won’t result in a long list of takeaways or deliverables. Instead, senior US officials described the meeting as a moment for reflection between two men whose relationship began more than a decade ago on a lengthy trip through China. For all of the reminiscing Biden and Xi may do, however, their final encounter will be shadowed by the results of last week’s election. Trump enters office having promised a hard line on China and has already placed a string of China hawks in key positions ahead of his swearing-in in January, portending a contentious relationship in the years ahead. How that approach will materially differ from Biden’s remains to be seen, given the current administration has taken aggressive steps to limit Chinese technology and to bolster American alliances in Asia as a counter to Beijing. In agreeing to meet with Biden in his lame-duck period, Xi appears to be signaling a desire to maintain continuity and relative stability amid the US leadership transition.