Biden meets Xi Jinping in San Francisco: US and Chinese leaders shake hands at Filoli luxury estate for crunch talks on Taiwan, fentanyl and climate change to try and repair spiraling tensions

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met for the first time in over a year for high-stakes talks on Wednesday to try and bury the hatchet amid dangerously escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Their encounter began with a warm double-clasped handshake, and a declaration by Xi that the world is 'big enough' for both countries, despite years of escalating rhetoric and provocations.

'The China-U.S. relationship has never been smooth sailing and always faces problems of one kind or another,' Xi said through a translator as he met Biden.

'Yet it has kept moving forward amidst twists and turns. For China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has terrible consequences for both sides. Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.'

In his own remarks, Biden called for a 'candid exchange.'

'I've always found our discussions to be straightforward and frank and always appreciated them,' Biden told Xi, after spending years telling U.S. audiences he has spent more time with the Chinese autocrat than any other U.S. leader.

Biden said it was 'paramount that we understand each other truly, leader-to-leader.'

And he underlined the risks if the two states fail to find a way to get along despite their differences. 

'We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict and we have to manage responsibly that competition. That's what the United States wants and what we intend to do. I believe that's also what the world wants from both of us,' Biden told his counterpart.

'We have a responsibility to our people and the world to work together when we see it in our interests to do so. The critical global changes we face from climate change, narcotics to artificial intelligence demand us to work together,' Biden added.

Xi, 70, told the 80-year-old Biden, 'We shoulder heavy responsibilities for the world and for history.'

The leaders of the two superpowers are trying to prevent their nations' rivalry from spilling into conflict at the crucial summit in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Biden and Xi came face-to-face on a red carpet at the Filoli country estate on the  outskirts of San Francisco, where they are expected to hold at least three hours of talks.

Washington-Beijing relations have been seriously strained since the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina in February.

The leaders of the world's two largest economies met with concerns soaring over issues including Taiwan, Beijing's actions in the South China Sea sanctions, espionage, trade and human rights.

They are also expected to cover a wide range of topics, including the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., climate change and the accelerating use of A.I.

The two men were set to meet face-to-face before an expanded meeting with their top security aides, after tense clashes over the Chinese spy balloon, fierce economic competition, and China’s embrace of Moscow amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Their encounter was months in the making, after high-level visits from Biden's cabinet and even a trip to Beijing by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hosted a big bucks fundraiser for Biden on Tuesday evening. 

It is the kind of personal diplomacy Biden champions, with a leader who holds unique power over a government that is flexing its muscle around the globe.

While Biden must deal with a divided an frequently dysfunctional Congress amid his own weak poll numbers, his top advisors believe Xi has the capacity to deliver, even if only on some of the modest agreements on fentanyl and climate that have leaked in advance of their sit down.

‘I would say that what we've seen over the last several years is the collection of power in the person of really one man: President Xi,’ a senior administration official told DailyMail.com at a briefing with reporters in advance of the high-stakes summit.

‘What that means is that, yes, other forms of diplomacy are important. But frankly when you really have to do serious diplomacy, it has to take place at the very top. So the stakes really just couldn't be higher. Yes, I think if you want to effect change the system, if you want a kind ofg clear shot to try and affect certain outcomes, it comes down to a meeting like tomorrow.

Their meeting takes place inside a 654-acre estate amassed by a California mining and gas baron.

The grounds of the Filoli estate include five 'distinct ecosystems,' trails, a fruit orchard, redwood groves, and natural springs.

The Georgian revival-style mansion has a total of 54,000 square feet.

The home was built in 1917, and opened to the public in 1975.

It is far removed from the streets of San Francisco where the APEC summit is underway. That was the scene this week of continued street protest by pro and anti-CCP protesters, along with people weighing in on Israel’s war on Gaza.

Also lining the streets have been members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement that is banned in China.

The crunch talks occurred after San Francisco's homeless were cleared from the streets in a massive clean-up operation to avoid Xi and other dignitaries seeing the squalor. 

But there was still chaos around the summit.

As the meeting began hundreds of anti-oil, pro-Palestine protesters clashed with riot police outside the APEC summit.

The demonstrators, wearing yellow vests, tried to block people from attending the CEO summit at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum but were unsuccessful as attendees entered through an alleyway.

'We won't allow genocide to be normalized,' an organizer with the No APEC Coalition told the the San Francisco Standard.

The protesters chanted: 'Biden, Biden telling lies, you don’t care if the planes dies' and 'shut down APEC.'

It is just the kind of open political expression that Chinese authorities have repeatedly tried to squelch for years, including during the 1989 Tienanmen Square crackdown, even while opening up its economy to become a dominant global force, second only to the U.S.

The White House said on a call with reporters Wednesday that Biden would raise human rights issues with Xi as he always does during such meetings. 

The group is protesting corporate profits, environmental abuses, poor working conditions, the Israel-Hamas war and capitalism at large.

The secluded Filoli estate is a historic country house with lavish gardens nestled in Northern California’s coastal range about 25 miles south of San Francisco.

It is set in 650 acres and includes an English Renaissance-style garden.

Officials hope the peaceful setting will contribute to a positive outcome for the talks.

'If they like each other, they are likely to start trusting each other and to communicate better,' said Jeremi Suri, a professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas at Austin.

'A place like this allows them to get away, not just from the media, but from a lot of the other things that encourage conflict.'

The secluded Filoli estate is a historic country house with lavish gardens nestled in Northern California’s coastal range about 25 miles south of San Francisco.

It is set in 650 acres and includes an English Renaissance-style garden.

Officials hope the peaceful setting will contribute to a positive outcome for the talks.

'If they like each other, they are likely to start trusting each other and to communicate better,' said Jeremi Suri, a professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas at Austin.

'A place like this allows them to get away, not just from the media, but from a lot of the other things that encourage conflict.'