Taking place at Filoli Estate (San Francisco, California, USA) on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Leaders' Meeting (APEC), this was the first direct meeting between leaders in a year. At the 4-hour meeting, both sides believed they had made "real progress", according to Reuters.

President Biden opened his speech at the summit by saying that US-China tensions “should not devolve into conflict.” He said the two countries needed to manage their relationship “responsibly,” as issues such as climate change, counter-narcotics and the control of artificial intelligence (AI) required shared attention.

In his message to Mr. Xi, Mr. Biden said that the most important thing is understanding between leaders, without misconceptions or misinformation.

In response, The Guardian quoted Mr. Xi as saying that “turning against each other is not an option” for the major powers. “The world is big enough for two countries to succeed, and the success of one country is an opportunity for the other,” he said.

The Chinese leader also called relations with the US "the most important bilateral relationship in the world", saying that he and Mr Biden "shoulder a heavy responsibility to the two peoples, to the world and to history".

"For two big countries like China and the US, turning their backs on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to change the other, and conflict and confrontation will cause unpredictable consequences for both," Mr. Tap added.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Mr. Xi also proposed that China and the US should have a new vision and together build five pillars for bilateral relations.

The White House later described the meeting as "candid and constructive", confirming that the two leaders discussed "a range of bilateral and global issues and exchanged views on areas of difference", NBC News reported.

The summit between Xi and Biden is seen by US officials as a chance to ease friction in what is arguably the world’s most dangerous rivalry, and the developments have raised hopes that the two countries can mend ties after years of disagreement.

At the APEC summit, along with leaders of 19 other economies, Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi are expected to continue discussing a range of issues including Taiwan, the East Sea, the Hamas-Israel and Russia-Ukraine conflicts, and tensions on the Korean peninsula.