Biden, Xi hold first talks in 7 months, discuss COVID-19 origins

Talking for the first time in seven months, United States President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the investigations into the origins of COVID-19 during a 90-minute telephonic conversation, the White House said.

Thursday’s 90-minute call between the two leaders was the first since February, when both the leaders talked for two hours shortly after Biden took over from Donald Trump.

“They did discuss a range of transnational issues including COVID-19, and understanding its origins is, of course, a primary concern for this administration," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.

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“Yes, it was a topic raised, but I`m not going to go into further detail,” she added.

Psaki asserted that the call was "respectful and candid, not lecturing or condescending, intended at keeping channels of communication open between the countries".

Climate and human rights were among the topicsand though economic matters were discussed they were “not a major part” of the call, she said.

A senior White House official told the BBC that the call came at the request of Biden, who had become “exasperated” by the unwillingness of lower-level Chinese officials to hold substantive talks with his administration.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the phone call was "candid (and)in-depth", adding that it had covered "extensive strategic communication and... issues of mutual concern".

“Whether China and the US can properly handle their relations... is critical for the future and destiny of the world,” said Xi, according to the CCTV report.

Last month, Biden vowed to press China for answers over the origins of a pandemicthat has now killed around 4.8 million people worldwide.The US intelligence agencies said they could conclusively prove whether the virus emerged from a Chinese research laboratory in Wuhan.

Beijing has repeatedly denied the US accusation that it has not cooperated with the pandemic source investigation.

(With inputs from agencies)