President Joe Biden will have a video conference call with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on November 15, the White House confirmed Friday.
The meeting was scheduled after Xi rejected a proposal Biden made in September to meet in person.
The two leaders are stepping up the level of their personal relationship since Biden became president after two phone calls that lasted more than an hour.
The White House said that during their meeting, the two leaders will “discuss ways to responsibly manage the competition between the United States and the PRC.”
China’s Foreign Ministry also confirmed the date of the scheduled call with Biden on Friday morning.
The president frequently refers to Xi in public speeches more than any other leader, talking about how close they are because of their past meetings.
“Not a joke. … I’ve had hours and hours and hours of meetings and personal conversations with Xi Jinping,” Biden said in October. “I’ve spent more time with him, I believe, than any other world leader has.”
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images
Biden repeatedly claims he spent 17,000 miles traveling with Xi, a claim that has been reported false by fact checkers.
Xi has not left China for more than 600 days since his last trip in January 2020, five days before the communist party locked down the city of Wuhan to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
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