Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun his first visit to the United States in six years, while President Joe Biden says he is eager to restore normal communication with Beijing.

Xi is on his first visit to the US since 2017. He is scheduled to meet with Biden on Wednesday morning at an undisclosed location in the San Francisco Bay Area before attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, News .ro said.

Xi’s summit with Biden will be the first face-to-face meeting between US and Chinese leaders in a year, and US officials have presented it as an opportunity to reduce friction in what many see as the world’s most dangerous rivalry.

Xi Jinping waved from the steps of his Air China plane upon arrival and disembarked to meet US officials at the airport, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.

He then got into his Chinese Hongqi, or Red Flag, limousine and left the airport for San Francisco, where demonstrations both for and against his visit are expected.

Less than two hours earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken addressed the ministers of the 21 APEC member countries and emphasized that the US believes in “a region where economies are free to choose their own path… where goods, ideas, people circulate legally. and freely.”

Blinken did not mention China by name, but his speech echoed U.S. rhetoric in recent years, in which Washington has accused China of bullying smaller countries in the Indo-Pacific region and seeking to undermine what the U.S. and its allies call the “rules-based” order.

US Trade Representative Catherine Tye, who opened the APEC ministerial session with Blinken, said the meeting in San Francisco comes at a time of “great uncertainty and challenges” for the region. She mentioned rising geopolitical tensions, fragile supply chains and the worsening climate crisis.

Earlier, Biden said he was eager to improve relations with China after a period of strained relations and that he would try to restore normal communication between the two superpowers, including military contacts.

• What to expect from Biden’s meeting with Xi Jinping in San Francisco

Discussions about two conflicts

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Biden and Xi will also discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as well as US efforts to support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian army.

Economic issues will occupy an important place on the agenda.

Biden said that the US does not want to withdraw from China, but wants to change economic relations for the better. The administration has made efforts to “de-risk” some U.S. supply chains critical to China as economic and military competition between the two countries has grown.

Xi, who is trying to attract foreign investment during APEC to counter his country’s recent difficulties, is expected to dine with top US business executives on Wednesday.

It will be an opportunity for American companies to meet directly with China’s leader as they look for ways to overcome the country’s economic slowdown and the uncertainty caused by China’s expanding security regulations.

Anxiety about confrontation

Biden has been careful to reassure countries in the region, including China, that the US is not seeking total economic isolation, an idea that has fueled concerns among Washington’s partners and allies about a superpower standoff that could disrupt the global economy.

China severed military ties with the US after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited democratically-ruled but Chinese-claimed Taiwan in August 2022.

Reestablishing contact is the main goal of the US to avoid miscalculation between the two militaries.

Washington is also hoping for more active cooperation from Beijing in the fight against the production of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid drug that has become a scourge in the United States and especially in San Francisco.

Sino-American relations have soured since Biden ordered the downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States in February.

Since then, senior Biden administration officials have visited Beijing and met with their counterparts in an effort to restore communication and trust.

Demonstrations for and against China

Several hundred demonstrators, mostly pro-Chinese, with Chinese flags gathered outside the hotel of the Chinese delegation ahead of Xi Jinping’s arrival in the United States.

Wider protests are expected on Wednesday, including from rights groups critical of Xi’s policies in Tibet, Hong Kong and the Muslim Uyghurs, near the summit site.

After Biden arrived in San Francisco, shortly before Xi landed, protesters met the US president’s motorcade at the airport.

Some waved Chinese flags and held banners calling for “friendly” and “warm” ties between the US and China. Others held placards condemning the Chinese Communist Party.

Earlier on Tuesday, a small plane flew over the APEC summit venue in downtown San Francisco with a banner reading: “END CCP, FREE CHINA, FREE RACE, FREE TIBET, FREE UIGUR,” referring to China’s treatment of Uyghurs, which the Biden administration calls ” genocide”.