The US government's announcement that President Joe Biden and Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping will meet in a virtual summit meeting before the end of the year creates hope of an improvement in China-US relations after months of what many observers have called a "new Cold War".

The announcement followed an early October meeting in Zurich between US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi. This indicates Mr Sullivan and Mr Yang likely found issues on which their bosses could reach agreement, which bodes well for the summit. The US government dropping its attempt to prosecute Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in September might also create more space for Mr Xi to be magnanimous rather than indignant at the summit.