Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden had their first in-person meeting for more than three hours in Bali, Indonesia on Monday, Reuters reports.
The three-hour meeting of the two heads of states, the first in-person one since Biden took office in January 2021, included a tea break.
The meeting began at 17:36 local time. The first half of the meeting lasted for nearly two hours.
After a short break, the two sides resumed meeting, which ended at 20:48.
President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday that they are ready to continue candid and in-depth exchange of views and open and honest dialogue.
Xi and Biden met on Monday ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia's resort island of Bali.
It has been over 50 years since China and the United States started initial contact and established diplomatic relations, said Xi.
He said the current state of China-U.S. relations is what both sides are concerned about.
"But such a state does not conform to the fundamental interests of our two countries and peoples, nor does it conform to the expectations of the international community. The international community universally expects that China and the United States will properly handle their relationship. Our meeting today has probably attracted the world's greatest attention," said Xi.
"We should work with all countries to bring more hope to world peace, greater confidence in global stability, and stronger impetus to common development. As always, I am ready to have a candid and in-depth exchange of views with Mr. President on issues of strategic importance in China-U.S. relations and on major global and regional issues at our meeting today. I also look forward to working with you to bring China-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy and stable development to the benefit of our two countries and the world as a whole," said Xi.
"President Xi, it's really glad to be able to see you again in person. And I believe there's little substitute to face-to-face discussions. We share responsibilities, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything near conflict, and find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation. So President Xi, I look forward to our continuing an ongoing, open, and honest dialog we've always had. And I thank you for the opportunity," said Biden.
