Biden, Xi arrive in San Francisco ahead of high-stakes meeting

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday is to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time in a year, for talks that may ease friction between the adversarial superpowers on military conflicts, drug-trafficking and artificial intelligence. However, deep progress on the vast differences separating the world's economic superpowers may have to wait for another day.

President Biden on Tuesday said that China has "real problems," speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco on the eve of meeting Xi. "President Xi is another example of how reestablishing American leadership in the world is taking hold," stated Biden without further elaborating.

Officials on both sides of the Pacific have set expectations low, as Biden and Xi are set to discuss Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Israel's war against Hamas, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea, and human rights. Each of them are areas where the leaders sit on opposing sides.

Biden and Xi arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday, where they are set to hold their meeting on the sidelines the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Leaders from the 21-member country group — and hundreds of CEOs in San Francisco to court them — meet amid Chinese economic weakness, Beijing's simmering territorial feuds with neighbors and the conflict in the Middle East.

Efforts to carefully choreograph Xi's visit may be upended in San Francisco. The route from the airport to the conference site was lined with demonstrators for and against China's ruling Communist Party, an unusual sight for Xi who last visited the United States in 2017.

Biden has sought direct diplomacy with Xi, betting that a personal relationship he has cultivated for a dozen years with the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong might salvage bilateral ties that are increasingly turning hostile.

During the meeting, which could last hours, Biden is also expected to press Xi to use China's influence to urge Iran not to take provocative action or encourage its proxies to enter the fray, to avoid regional escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The U.S. troops across the Middle East have been attacked at least 48 times by the Iran-backed militias since October 7.