President Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping Set To Meet In San Francisco Next Month

According to new reports released on Thursday and Friday, President Joe Biden is to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time in a year next month in San Francisco.

While both President Biden and President Xi have met before, an in-person meeting between the two hasn’t happened since a G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia last November. Since then, tensions have remained high between the two countries, especially following a June incident in which Biden called President Xi a “dictator” and an incident in February when a Chinese spy balloon moved across Canada and the United States before being blown up by an F-22 off the coast of South Carolina. There are also continuing issues, such as concerns of of agreements between Russia, China, and North Korea in the past year and the escalation of military exercises nearby Taiwan.

However, the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting next month is to be a rare time when leaders and representatives of many Pacific rim nations get to meet. And with San Francisco due to host, it offers the even rarer chance to have a Chinese leader visit a city outside Washington for a meeting or conference. While a meeting between Biden and Xi has been floated several times, the APEC conference proved too good of a chance, and on Thursday, the White House said that a meeting was currently in the planning stages.

“Nothing has been confirmed yet,” stressed one White House official, who also noted that a date and location within San Francisco have not yet been confirmed. But, with both leaders set to attend the conference, a meeting is highly likely, especially after President Xi did not attend a G20 meeting in New Delhi last month while most other world leaders in the group did.

APEC Summit in San Francisco

The summit is to be held at the Moscone Center from November 11th to November 17th, and is the result of a year of planning after the city was first named as host in November 2022. In addition to Biden, Xi, and other world leaders, Governor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are set to attend as members of the host committee. Former Senator Dianne Feinstein was also originally a host committee member, although with her death last month, this will likely be changed.

The APEC Summit is also to be a major test for San Francisco. A rise in crime, homelessness, drug use, as well as many people and businesses leaving the city, have marred the city’s reputation in recent years. At last months Dreamforce Conference, many attendees were reported to have been “put off” by the decline of the city, with some attendees being attacked. Google also moved a conference out of the city last month because of the crime and surrounding issues. As large conferences and events are big economic boosts to a city, San Francisco losing out on future events could lead to yet another crushing economic blow. Losing future events that bring the city international prestige as a result of San Francisco’s problems is an unthinkable loss for many, with many experts pointing to next months summit as a chance to right the ship.

“San Francisco needs to look good,” stressed political event organizer Jaya Shah to the Globe. “APEC is going to be important. This is likely going to be the first meeting between Biden and Xi in a year, and the backdrop is more important than you think. Chicago used to be a constant national party convention location. But after the 1968 protest and violence and how Mayor Daley completely failed to reign in the police, the Democrats never held another convention in the city until 1996, with the GOP not even bothering with the city ever again. The Seattle WTO riots in 1999 pretty much halted any large scale event in the city besides for a few already planned for years. So it matters.”

“Dreamforce wasn’t a great look this year, as Salesforce warned that anything bad happening could have them move the conference next year, and after what happened, it looks like it might. So now APEC. The city cannot afford another bad dismount so to speak, so they need to take every precaution in the book. Security is going to be tight, and it looks like the city is ramping up for it.”

“But this is a big moment for Biden, as well as for Newsom and Breed. If the city’s crime situation or homeless situation overtakes coverage of the summit itself, which it has a chance to, then this spells disaster for the city. Biden meeting Xi is huge. These leaders will not forgive the city if something there trumps this.”

The APEC conference is due to be held next month in San Francisco.