China ready to help bring US relations back on right track, Xi Jinping says ahead of key Biden call

Cooperation is the ‘only right choice’, Chinese president says in letter read out by ambassador Qin Gang in New York

Comments come days ahead of a virtual summit with US President Joe Biden where Taiwan, trade and military issues are expected to dominate

Reading Time:4 minutes

Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden are expected to soon hold a virtual meeting. Photo: AP

Published: 10:36pm, 10 Nov 2021Updated: 11:41pm, 10 Nov 2021

China “stands ready to work with the United States” to bring relations back on the right track, President Xi Jinping has said, days ahead of a scheduled virtual meeting with US counterpart Joe Biden.

This comes as the two nations seek to reopen lines of communication to ease acrimony and reset bilateral ties, amid continued sparring over Taiwan and US concerns about Beijing’s nuclear arsenal.

In a congratulatory letter to the National Committee on US-China Relations, Xi said China “stands ready to work with the United States to enhance exchanges and cooperation across the board”, on the basis of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.

China aims to “jointly address regional and international issues as well as global challenges and … properly manage differences, so as to bring China-US relations back to the right track of sound and steady development”, said the letter, read out by US ambassador Qin Gang at the non-profit’s annual gala dinner in New York on Tuesday.

Cooperation was the “only right choice” for China-US relations, Xi said in his letter.

Qin, for his part, said China’s US policy has been “highly consistent and stable” and Beijing has handled mutual relations from “a strategic and long-term perspective”.

Chinese and US officials agreed in principle for the two presidents to hold a virtual meeting before the year-end, following last month’s closed-door meeting between China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Switzerland.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x