US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are planning to hold talks in California on Wednesday, the White House announced.

The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit being held in San Francisco.

The two leaders have not met since the G20 summit last year. The talks come amid efforts to boost US-China relations that have taken a hit in recent years.

The presidential meeting also follows talks between high-ranking ministers over the past months.

Delicate diplomacy

A trade war, launched by former US President Donald Trump, concerns over increasing Chinese aggressiveness in Asia and the Pacific — especially regarding the autonomy of Taiwan — and China's support for Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine have all soured relations between the two superpowers.

Major breakthroughs are not expected, as Beijing and Washington both consider themselves locked in a competition for dominance in a changing world.

"We're clear-eyed about this. We know efforts to shape or reform China over several decades have failed. But we expect China to be around and to be a major player on the world stage for the rest of our lifetimes," a US official, who declined to be named, told reporters in a briefing.

ab/nm (Reuters, AP)