Chinese President Xi Jinping has held his final meeting with his outgoing counterpart in the United States, Democrat Joe Biden.

But Xi’s words on Saturday seemed directed not simply at Biden but at his Republican successor, returning President Donald Trump.

In his encounter with Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, Xi emphasised the importance of the US and China maintaining “mutual respect”.

While Xi did not mention Trump by name, he gave a nod to the incoming US president’s victory in the November 5 election.

“The United States has recently concluded its elections. China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged,” Xi said.

But, he warned, “If we take each other as rival or adversary, pursue vicious competition and seek to hurt each other, we would roil the relationship or even set it back.”

Trump, who served as president previously from 2017 to 2021, oversaw a period of heightened tensions with China, including a trade war sparked by his imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods.

China responded with its own tariffs and trade restrictions, though experts warned that the escalation on both sides damaged the two countries’ economies.

On Saturday, Xi appeared to extend a hand of friendship to Trump, encouraging their countries to work together for mutual gain.

“China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” he said.

A major campaign theme

Trump has reprised his “America First” philosophy as he prepares to enter the White House for a second time.

China was a repeated feature of the Republican’s campaign speeches, as he led a successful bid for re-election in the 2024 US presidential race.

As part of a pitch to American voters, Trump pledged to protect US manufacturing from Chinese competition.

“I charged China hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes and tariffs. They paid us,” Trump boasted at his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 4.

“And you know what? We’re going to get along great with China. We’re going to get along good. I want to get along with them. President Xi was great until COVID came. Then, I wasn’t so thrilled with him.”

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump blamed the Chinese leader for letting the virus spread by “allowing flights to leave China and infect the world”. He also repeatedly called COVID-19 the “China virus”.

Despite their rocky history, Xi called to congratulate Trump on his second term the day after the election, on November 6.

Xi has led the Chinese government since 2013, and under his authority, the two-term limit was abolished for presidents.

Trump has expressed admiration for Xi’s authority over the Chinese government, which some critics compare with authoritarian rule.

“I got along very well with President Xi. He’s a great guy. He wrote me a beautiful note the other day when he heard about what happened,” Trump said after the assassination attempt on him in July. “It’s a good thing to get along, not a bad thing.”

Goodbye to Biden

Xi and Biden have had their own rocky history, with incidents like the 2023 downing of an alleged Chinese “spy” balloon fuelling spikes in tensions.

China maintained that the balloon was a civilian aircraft collecting weather data, and it denounced the US’s decision to shoot it down with a missile after it passed over sensitive US military installations.

Biden, who turns 82 on Wednesday, exchanged some banter with his Chinese counterpart as they spoke to reporters in their final meeting.

“Can you put on your earpiece? We have simultaneous interpreting,” Xi asked Biden at their afternoon news conference.

Biden responded with a joke. “I’ve learned to speak Chinese,” he said with a chuckle.

The US president continued by acknowledging that relations have not always been smooth between their two countries.

“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank. We have never kidded one another. We’ve been level with one another. And I think that’s vital,” Biden said, pointing across the table as he read from prepared remarks.

“These conversations prevent miscalculations, and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict.”

He used his final encounter as president with Xi to push several US priorities. In a readout released by the White House, Biden reportedly pushed for greater law enforcement cooperation to stem the flow of synthetic drugs to the US.

He and Xi also spoke about the emerging challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), including with regards to its use with nuclear weapons.

“The two leaders affirmed the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons,” the readout explained.

“The two leaders also stressed the need to consider carefully the potential risks and develop AI technology in the military field in a prudent and responsible manner.”

Biden also confirmed that the US’s “one China policy” remained “unchanged”: The US acknowledges the government in Beijing as the sole government of China. It does not have formal diplomatic relations with the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China considers its territory.

China has called acknowledging Taiwan’s sovereignty a “red line” in its relationship with the US.

While Biden has previously pledged to protect Taiwan should it ever face attack, on Saturday, he struck a note of peace, calling for a continuation of the status quo.

“He reiterated that the United States opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, that we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, and that the world has an interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the White House readout said.

But, it added, Biden also “called for an end to destabilizing PRC [People’s Republic of China] military activity around Taiwan”.