BIDEN TO HOLD SUMMIT WITH XI

[Anchor Lead]

Now that the mid-term elections in the U.S. are over, President Biden is to hold his first in-person summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has been re-elected as Chinese leader for the third term. The U.S. leader is seeking to re-establish competition and economic cooperation between the two nations. He's especially looking to focus on the North Korea nuclear issue in promoting bilateral cooperation.

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The White House says U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are set to meet on Nov. 14 in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G20 summit. It will be the first in-person summit between Washington and Beijing since the Biden administration's inauguration.

[Soundbite] Jake Sullivan(White House Nat’l Security Adviser) : "It is going to be an important and in my view, highly constructive contribution to how we manage this relationship going through."

The White House says the upcoming talks will focus on maintaining dialogue with Beijing, managing competition responsibly, and expanding cooperation. The two leaders are also set to discuss the North Korea nuclear and missile issue. The White House says it views it as an area of bilateral cooperation between the two nations. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, however, expressed concerns over the possibility of Pyongyang's additional provocations including a seventh nuclear test and long-range missiles testing at "some point in the broader time frame." Sullivan added, Washington is closely monitoring the situation. He says the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are to discuss the issue at their meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 13th. He added that the issue of North Korea's cyber threats is also included in the agenda of the upcoming Seoul-Washington talks.

[Soundbite] Jake Sullivan(White House Nat’l Security Adviser) : "I think it will be a significant milestone in the trilateral relationship and will help only strengthened coordination on DPRK."

With the summit scheduled to take place after major political events including the U.S. mid-term elections and China's Communist Party Congress, all eyes are on whether greater progress can be achieved on Northeast Asia issues including North Korea.