(VOVWORLD) - US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for about 90 minutes on Thursday, a senior US official said, with both leaders discussing the need to avoid conflict between the world's two largest economies.
 (Photo: Reuters) |
Relations between Washington and Beijing have been at their lowest point in decades and it was only the second call between the leaders since Biden took office in January.
A White House statement said the two leaders had "a broad, strategic discussion," focusing on economic issues, climate change and COIVD-19, the senior US official said.
Chinese state media said that both sides agreed to maintain frequent contact and to ask working-level teams to increase communications.
Occasional high-level meetings since Xi and Biden's first call in February have yielded scant progress on a slew of issues, from climate change, to human rights, and transparency over the origins of COVID-19.
The White House statement said that Biden underscored the United States' enduring interest in peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world and the two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict.