Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are trying to ease US-China tensions

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have scheduled a meeting tomorrow in San Francisco seen as a new effort to stabilize relations between the world's top two economies.

This will be the second meeting between the two leaders since the election of Joe Biden to the White House and comes a year after the first, which took place at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

According to the Financial Times (FT), Biden and Xi Jinping will resume attempts to halt the sharp deterioration in China-US ties, which are at their worst in four decades.

In recent months, the parties have renewed their high-level commitment to restore ties. Recently there was a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing and a trip to Washington by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Washington welcomed the pledge, but US officials stressed that tomorrow's summit would not result in major deals, especially as tensions over Taiwan remain.

"We're not talking about a long list of outcomes," said a US official quoted by the FT, noting: "The objectives of this meeting are really about managing competition and making sure that the channels of communication between the parties are open." According to him, the fact that next year there will be elections both in Taiwan and in the USA, could put pressure on US-China relations, thus it is necessary to strengthen a high-level communication.

Rick Waters, who until August was the top US State Department official in China, said both leaders wanted to prevent further deterioration of relations "at the lowest possible cost". Waters, who is now managing director of consulting firm Eurasia Group, said: "The question is how much the two can really stabilize China-US relations, given the tests they face in Taiwan, technology policy and other aspects of a fundamentally competitive relationship".

• The USA, concerned about China's interference in the elections in Taiwan

The American president intends to warn his Chinese counterpart that the United States is "extremely concerned" about Beijing's interference in Taiwan's presidential election, which will take place in 2024, claims an American official quoted by AFP.

According to the mentioned source, against the background of this election, but also of the presidential elections in the USA, it is possible that the year 2024 will be "quite turbulent" for the relationship between Washington and Beijing. He added: "We are also concerned about the unprecedented, dangerous and provocative escalation of Chinese military activities around Taiwan."

Taiwan is one of the main points of contention between the two superpowers, and China suspended most military communications with the United States in the summer of 2022 after a visit by the speaker of the US House of Representatives to the island.

A dialogue with China between important military officials, but also at a more operational level, is "absolutely essential" to avoid potentially dangerous misunderstandings, the American official also said, noting: "The Chinese are reluctant and, therefore, President Biden will pressure to restore these crucial channels of communication between the two nuclear powers".

According to foreign media, the two leaders will discuss, at tomorrow's meeting, issues related to acute international issues, especially the war between Israel and Hamas.