IMF: Biden-Xi meeting eases US-China trade tensions

International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva has described US President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “very constructive” signal that may ease trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Georgieva said that the leaders of top economies issued a “strong call” for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, in part because the conflict is the single biggest factor slowing global growth. She said the Biden-Xi meeting sent “a very significant message to the world that international cooperation is important for all of us.” The IMF has earlier warned that growth would suffer if the world fragments into geopolitical blocs led by the United States and Western allies on one side and China and other state-driven economies on the other, with competing technology and other standards.