Stakes high ahead of Xi-Obama summit

Candor between China, US leaders expected at estate retreat meetings

The leaders of the world's two largest economies will look to develop their relations as they discuss a wide range of high-stakes issues at a retreat in southern California.

President Xi Jinping's plane touched down on Thursday night at Ontario International Airport, about 130 km northwest of the Sunnylands retreat, venue for the summit with US President Barack Obama.

Xi has completed a weeklong trip to three Latin American and Caribbean nations.

It will be the first meeting between the leaders since Xi took office in March and Obama began his second term in January.

They were scheduled to meet for several hours on Friday, followed by a private dinner. The talks will continue on Saturday morning before ending at noon.

Observers said the laid-back meetings will allow more scope for pragmatic conversation and candor. This will help build personal rapport and set a positive tone in developing a new type of major power relations and solving specific issues including economic and security problems.

Sources have said the summit has been discussed for some time. Initially, the earliest possible meeting for Xi and Obama would have been on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Russia in September but both sides saw a need to advance the schedule.

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