BIDEN MEETS CHINESE FM, CALLS FOR COOPERATION ON 'GLOBAL CHALLENGES'

President of the United States, Joe Biden met China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi for talks on Friday (Chinese local time) as the two countries seek to smooth over ties ahead of a possible visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping and called for working together to address global challenges.

The White House said Biden "emphasised that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication," and he "underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges."

The encounter with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was the latest in a series of high-level contacts between the two countries as they explore the possibility of stabilising an increasingly tense relationship at a time of conflict in Ukraine and Israel. Biden and Wang met in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan were also present, according to administration spokesman John Kirby.