Facing Stalemate in Ties, Biden and China's Xi Discuss Avoiding Conflict in Call

WASHINGTON/BEIJING - U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke for 90 minutes in their first talks in seven months on Thursday, discussing the need to avoid letting competition between the world's two largest economies veer into conflict.

The U.S. side said the "proof will be in the pudding" as to whether the stalemate can be broken with relations between the superpowers languishing at their lowest point in decades. A White House statement said Biden and Xi had "a broad, strategic discussion," including areas where interests and values converge and diverge. The conversation focused on economic issues, climate change and COIVD-19, a senior U.S. official told reporters. "President Biden underscored the United States' enduring interest in peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world and the two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict," the statement said.