Blinken’s China trip could pave way for Xi-Biden meeting at Apec summit, analysts say

US secretary of state’s visit signals mutual commitment to high-level engagement, raising hopes for talks between leaders in November, observers say

Xi’s attendance at forum would show Beijing is serious about better ties, but absence would be sign relations have ‘gone off the rails’, expert says

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. Photo: AP

Published: 8:09pm, 20 Jun 2023Updated: 8:31pm, 20 Jun 2023

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s China visit could pave the way for a Xi-Biden meeting and a thaw in trade ties, with Beijing and Washington signalling mutual commitment to continued high-level engagement, analysts said.

Amid strains over tariffs, tech restrictions and military activities in the Indo-Pacific, Blinken’s long-awaited trip to China, the highest-level engagement between the United States and China since presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in Bali last year, was recognised by both sides as candid, in-depth and constructive.

Analysts noted the positive exchanges during Blinken’s visit raised hopes for a meeting between Xi and Biden during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in November, but more work was needed to make the talks happen.

Lu Xiang, an expert on US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said Xi’s meeting with Blinken could be interpreted as both countries having reached a “tacit agreement” for Xi and Biden to meet at Apec in San Francisco.

“I think the two sides may have reached an internal consensus for the two leaders to have a smooth and constructive meeting in November. And there may be even an official visit to the United States by President Xi,” he said.

“If the two sides can make breakthroughs on specific issues during the next four months, then we can have more optimism about China-US relations.”

Pang Zhongying, an international relations professor at Sichuan University, said Blinken’s visit, as well as the meeting between China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Austria last month, were both partly about making preparations for the leaders to meet at the Apec summit in November.

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