Washington: The United States will always insist on its values, the rules are universal and countries must follow them, US President Joe Biden said at the start of the highly anticipated virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"We have a responsibility to the world, as well as to our people. --I have talked about this -- all countries have to play by the same rules of the road, why the US is always going to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners," the White House press pool quoted Biden as saying.
In his opening remarks, Biden stressed the need to collaborate "especially on vital global issues like climate change." "We have a responsibility to the world as well as to our people," Biden said during his meeting.
The US President opened the virtual summit noting that both have "spent an awful lot of time talking to each other" over the years, and "maybe I should start more formally even though you and I have never been that formal." Chinese President, on the other hand, expressed his readiness to work with the Biden administration to build consensus to move China-US relations forward. He added that both the countries are at critical stages of development and the "global village" of humanity faces multiple challenges.
During his opening remarks, Xi stressed that a sound and steady China-US relationship is required for advancing the two countries' respective development and for safeguarding a peaceful and stable international environment, including finding effective responses to global challenges such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Xi also expressed his readiness to work with Biden to build consensus and take active steps to move China-US relations forward in a positive direction.
This is the first meeting between the two leaders since Biden has assumed office. Although both have spoken twice over the phone so far.
