SAN FRANCISCO — US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will try to prevent the superpowers' rivalry spilling into conflict when they meet for the first time in a year at a high-stakes summit in San Francisco on Wednesday.

With tensions soaring over issues including Taiwan, sanctions and trade, the leaders of the world's largest economies are expected to hold at least three hours of talks at a country estate on the outskirts of the city.

The carefully choreographed meeting on the sidelines of an APEC summit in California is due to start with a formal handshake at 10.45 am (2.45 am SGT, Nov 16)), followed by bilateral talks behind closed doors including a working lunch.

The 80-year-old Mr Biden held out an olive branch to Mr Xi, 70, on the eve of the talks, insisting that the United States was "not trying to decouple from China" and wanted to improve the relationship.

But the US president could not resist adding later at a fundraising dinner that, under communist leader Xi, China faced "real problems", while Biden claimed to be "reestablishing American leadership in the world."

China responded with a foreign ministry spokeswoman pointing out all countries had problems, including the United States, while sticking to positive talking points on the summit.

"The key to stabilizing and improving China-US relations is both sides working together, and the most fundamental condition is mutual respect," spokeswoman Mao Ning said. AFP