Chinese leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Joe Biden that he’s ready to work with Donald Trump to improve the relationship between the world’s biggest economies.

Speaking in what’s expected to be their final meeting before Trump takes office, Xi told Biden that the U.S. and China should strive for peaceful co-existence over the long term. He said “solidarity and cooperation” are needed to help humanity overcome difficulties, adding that “neither decoupling nor supply chain disruption is a solution.”

“China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-U.S. relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said at the meeting in Lima, Peru.

Still, he added a warning: “If we treat each other as an adversary or an enemy, viciously compete with and harm each other, the Sino-U.S. relations will encounter twists and turns or even regression.”

Biden, speaking in response, said he was “very proud” of the progress between the two sides. He recalled how the two leaders have met frequently over the years, and said they had always been candid with each other even if they haven’t always agreed.

“These conversations prevent miscalculations and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict,” Biden said, adding that cooperation has improved on military communication, AI risks and counter-narcotics.

The meeting is expected to be the last official gathering between the pair, whose relationship stretches back more than a decade to when both served as vice president for their nations, and comes at a period of heightened uncertainty and tension.

Biden has just about two months before he hands power to Trump, who has threatened 60% tariffs on China — a level that risks decimating trade between the world’s biggest economies. Early appointments by the president-elect — including China hawks Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Mike Waltz as national security adviser — suggest he is readying an adversarial stance toward Beijing.

Biden and Xi have sought to stabilize relations and build on a summit a year ago in San Francisco, which reset ties after his administration shot down a Chinese spy balloon drifting over the continental U.S. and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, prompting Beijing to hold military exercises surrounding the island. Taiwan remains the biggest military flashpoint between the U.S. and China, and the most sensitive issue for Xi.

Even so, a host of tensions remain following a tumultuous four years that saw both nations take steps to become more self-reliant in preparation for a potential conflict, even if one isn’t inevitable or planned. The Biden administration has moved to deny Beijing advanced AI chips and other technology, pressuring U.S. allies to comply with export controls designed to ensure the U.S. maintains its military superiority over China.

Speaking to Biden on Saturday, Xi said major countries shouldn’t pursue a policy of “small yard high fences,” using a term coined by U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan to describe the U.S. efforts to ensure China can’t access cutting-edge technology.

Ahead of the meeting, a senior U.S. official said Biden was expected to warn Xi that attacks against critical U.S. networks would only lead to further decoupling from Chinese-origin technology. China’s state-sponsored hack of U.S. telecommunications systems — an effort to steal call records and communications from U.S. political candidates and aides, including those from Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaigns — extended to T-Mobile, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. China has denied any effort to interfere in U.S. politics.

More broadly, Biden aides described Saturday’s meeting as a chance to check in on areas of concern. High on the list is China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base, which has helped Vladimir Putin sustain his war in Ukraine. On Friday, Biden met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea to discuss their concerns over growing regional support for Russia, including North Korea’s recent deployment of troops to help Russia’s war effort.

The strengthening alliance between Putin and Kim Jong Un is becoming a headache for Xi. Although he’s supported both Russia and North Korea, Xi has sought to portray Beijing as neutral regarding the war in Ukraine and pushed to improve ties with the U.S. and its allies, not least to help ensure exports continue to buoy China’s struggling economy. The Kim-Putin partnership risks adding economic pressure on China, and it undermines Xi’s argument that the U.S. shouldn’t have military alliances in the Indo-Pacific region.

Biden’s team is also eager to avoid conflicts erupting in the South China Sea or between China and Taiwan, which the White House has called the biggest risk for the incoming administration.

For Xi, the meeting is also an opportunity to take stock of the relationship as he considers how to brace his country for a possible tariff shock when Trump returns to the White House. China’s manufacturing push has helped drive export growth to the fastest in two years, buoying an economy struggling with a prolonged real estate slump and deflation.

While China saw some pick up in domestic demand in October after rolling stimulus measures, massive tariffs risk shaving off several percentage points of annual economic growth. Xi on Friday expressed “full confidence” in hitting this year’s target of about 5%.

With that threat looming, Xi has spent much of the APEC summit positioning China as a more reliable free trade partner. He held meetings with a range of U.S. allies and partners and inaugurated a new $1.3 billion deep-water port in Peru, while calling on APEC leaders to “tear down the walls” impeding trade, investment, technology and services.

Xi also announced that he would host the APEC summit in 2026, which would be an opportunity for Trump to potentially visit China. On Saturday, Xi told Biden that his nation would continue to carry forward the “traditional friendship” between the nations even as China continues to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.

“China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged,” Xi said.

———

(With assistance from Rebecca Choong Wilkins, Jing Li and Lauren Dezenski.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.