In Xi-Biden summit coverage, Chinese media send unified message highlighting leader’s ‘warm welcome’ in US

In its coverage of heavyweight talks between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden, Chinese media highlighted the hospitality and respect the American side showed towards Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades.

Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed around a dozen US officials quietly waiting before Xi exited an Air China plane and waved from the steps.

Greeted by Newsom and other representatives, Xi recalled his previous trip to San Francisco 38 years ago, when he was party chief of Zhengding county in the northern province of Hebei.

Biden later played up that personal detail. After a four-hour talk with the Chinese leader and his delegation, a beaming Biden held up his phone to display a photo of Xi in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

“Do you know this man?” Biden reportedly asked Xi, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, who shared the interaction on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“Oh yes,” Xi responded with a smile. “This was 38 years ago.”

Chinese media also highlighted their warm farewell when Xi opened the door of a Hongqi limousine and Biden admired the Chinese-made luxury vehicle, comparing it to his own presidential Cadillac.

01:06

Xi-Biden summit venue was site of 80s US TV drama ‘Dynasty’

Xi-Biden summit venue was site of 80s US TV drama ‘Dynasty’

Biden, Xi meet for first time in a year, agree to new talks

On the social media platform Weibo, the most searched hashtags for Thursday included “Biden reaffirms no support for Taiwan independence”, “China will reunify Taiwan with the mainland ultimately”, “the US should not plan to suppress and contain China”, “Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed”, and “the two leaders bid farewell”.

The state media reports were reposted by various government departments and party organs, including police departments and courts, the Communist Youth League and local governments.

On the country’s heavily censored social media platforms, only a small portion of the tens of thousands of comments were visible to users, with many posts calling for “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and cooperation and win-win”.