When Xi Jinping stepped off his plane in San Francisco for the Apec summit, he was under quite different circumstances than the previous time he landed on American soil.

According to Li Mingjiang, an associate professor at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, China’s current economic challenges will be a “important factor” in Mr Xi’s negotiations and “would lead to a stronger desire to stabilize the economic, trade, and investment relations with the US.”

“Mr Xi will want to receive reassurance from Joe Biden that the US will not expand its trade war or tech rivalry, nor take additional measures to decouple economically.” Beijing has complained vociferously about the US imposing tariffs on Chinese imports, blacklisting Chinese companies, and restricting China’s access to advanced chip-making tech.

The fact they are meeting in San Francisco, home of Silicon Valley and the world’s leading technology companies, will not be lost on the two leaders. There is speculation they may announce a working group to discuss artificial intelligence, which the Chinese reportedly hope to use to persuade the Americans not to further extend US technology export restrictions.