Biden, Xi plan U.S.-China virtual summit

ZURICH/WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The United States and China have agreed in principle for their presidents to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday, after high-level talks aimed at improving communication between the two countries.   

The closed-door meeting at an airport hotel in the Swiss city of Zurich between U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi was their first face-to-face encounter since an unusually public and acrid airing of grievances in Alaska in March.   

U.S. officials had suggested that the meeting was a follow-on from President Joe Biden’s Sept. 9 call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, prior to which the world’s top two economies appeared to have been locked in a stalemate. 

 
The White House said Sullivan raised concerns about contentious issues such as China’s actions in the South China Sea, as well as on human rights and Beijing’s stances on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan.