Biden and Xi Jinping hold phone call ahead of Yellen's trip to China

• President Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone to "check in" and discuss U.S. concerns about economic relations, Ukraine and cybersecurity threats.
• The White House has consistently argued that Biden's goal is to responsibly manage U.S-China competition and prevent tensions from escalating into conflict.

President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone Tuesday, a call the White House described as a way for the two leaders to "check in" and responsibly manage the strained U.S.-China relationship.

"Intense competition requires intense diplomacy to manage tensions, address misperceptions and prevent unintended conflict," a senior administration official said on a call with reporters on Monday. "This call is one way to do that."

During the call with Xi, the first such phone meeting since July 2022, Biden planned to raise a host of U.S. concerns, the official said.

They include the two superpowers' economic relationship, the tensions over Taiwan, China's support for Russia in its Ukraine invasion and growing cybersecurity threats, especially ahead of November's U.S. presidential election.

The last time Biden and Xi met in person was in November, on the sidelines of a summit in Woodside, California.

There, the leaders agreed to resume military-to-military communications between the U.S. and China. Since then, there have been several significant meetings and conversations between military leadership, with more expected later this year, the Biden administration official said.

On Wednesday, Biden's top economic envoy, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, is scheduled to depart for China to hold face-to-face meetings with her counterparts over five days in Guangzhou and Beijing. Secretary