Biden and Xi to Meet at APEC Summit Amid Ongoing US-China Economic Tensions

Global Economy Hangs in the Balance as World's Two Largest Economies Seek to Cool Tensions, No Major Breakthroughs Expected

The upcoming APEC summit will see a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, marking their first conversation in a year amid worsening frictions between the two nations.
The global economy, which has been hit by multiple crises since 2020, could benefit from a détente between the US and China, who together produce over 40% of the world's goods and services.
The US-China economic relationship has been deteriorating for years, erupting into a trade war in 2018 under President Donald Trump. Despite changes in administration, many of Trump's confrontational trade policies, including tariffs on Chinese imports, have been maintained.
Beijing has retaliated against US sanctions with its own tariffs and aggressive actions against foreign companies in China, leading to a potential 'decoupling' of the world's two biggest economies.
The IMF estimates that higher trade barriers will subtract $7.4 trillion from global economic output, with international trade expected to grow just 0.9% this year and 3.5% in 2024, down sharply from the 2000-2019 annual average of 4.9%.