Results of Biden-Xi Summit Promise a Pivotal Turn for Global Economic Harmony

• 29 November 2023
• Construction Focus
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In a historic face-to-face encounter, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping convened on 15 November 2023, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference near San Francisco. This landmark meeting, their first in a year, carried significant implications for the global economy.

“We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict,” Biden said at the start of the summit. “Critical global challenges we face, from climate change to counternarcotics to artificial intelligence, demand our joint efforts.”

Xi responded in his opening remarks, “For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.”

The summit addressed crucial issues such as curbing fentanyl flows, ensuring the safe use of artificial intelligence, and addressing U.S. restrictions on Chinese access to high-end tech.

The outcome promises a positive trajectory for the global economy, as highlighted by key developments:

1. Improving Sino-US Relations: Recent signals of goodwill include China’s Ministry of Commerce actively seeking to address the unequal treatment of foreign businesses, aiming to reshape the narrative from competition to coexistence. Analysts note China’s strategic move to attract foreign investments, emphasizing a mutually beneficial relationship.

CNA’s Shanghai correspondent Low Minmin reported on 26 November 2023:

“China (is) trying to change the conversation and the nature of the relationship, getting the US to not see it as competition, but as a country to coexist with. ”

“Last quarter, China’s FDI was negative for the first time in 25 years. That means that foreign companies are taking out more money than they are putting into China. On top of that, we (China) have a property market not doing so well, youth unemployment is relatively high. So overall, this isn’t a good time to have hostile relations with America”.

She added “and we can see not that China is trying to push these foreign companies to put their money back into China. That’s why President Xi had dinner with the US’s top CEO and sidelines of the summit during his visit.”

Simon Marks CNA’s reports out of Washington added that “some of these CEOs and businessmen even paid money to attend the dinner with President Xi. This indicates how kind of brittle the conversation is…”.

2. Climate Cooperation: In the hours preceding the summit, both the U.S. and China reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on climate issues. This alignment on a critical global concern underscores the potential for collaborative efforts between the two economic powerhouses.
3. Resumption of Direct Flights: More direct flights between the U.S. and China are resuming, marking a positive step toward re-establishing regular connections between the nations.
4. Trade Agreements: Last month, Chinese commodity importers signed the first agreements since 2017 to buy U.S. agricultural products in bulk. Additionally, there are speculations that the Chinese government might announce a commitment to resume purchases of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, potentially fostering economic ties between the two nations.

President Xi’s visit was his first to the U.S. since 2017 when he visited then-President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

• Analysis
• Economy and Finance