US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume bilateral military communications and curb illicit fentanyl production during a meeting in California on Wednesday, in a display of their desire to stabilise the taut relationship between the two superpowers.

It was their first in-person meeting in a year at the Filoli estate in Woodside, south of San Francisco, after a period of growing tensions between the United States and China over security, trade and technological leadership to name a few.