Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke for more than two hours on Taiwan, trade and relations between the superpowers.

President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping held the fifth dialogue of their presidencies on ThursdaySpeaking during More than two hours They chart the future of their complicated relationship at a time of rising economic and geopolitical tensions.

The call began at 8:33 am EDT and ended at 10:50 am EDT., according to the White House. It comes as Biden seeks to find new ways to work with the rising world power and strategies to limit China’s influence around the world. Differing perspectives on global health, economic policy and human rights have long strained the relationship, with China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s aggression in Ukraine adding to the tension.

The last pressure was the point House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan is possible, is a democratically-ruled island and receives informal defense support from the United States, but which China considers part of its territory. Beijing has said it views such a trip as a provocation, a threat that US officials take very seriously in light of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.

“If the US insists on going its own way and challenging China’s decisions, it will certainly receive strong responses.”Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters earlier this week. “The United States will bear all subsequent consequences.”

Pelosi is the highest-ranking US elected official to visit Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich visited the island in 1997 when he was Speaker of the House. Biden told reporters last week that U.S. military officials believed it was “not a good idea” for the speaker to visit the island at this time.

John KirbyA US national security spokesman said on Wednesday It is important that Biden and Xi continue to communicate.

“The president wants to make sure the lines of communication with President Xi are open because that’s essentialKirby told reporters at a White House briefing. “There are issues where we can cooperate with China and obviously there are issues where there is friction and tension.”

Biden and Xi last spoke in March after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“It is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world today, with ramifications far beyond the two individual countries.”Kirby said.

The conversation comes when Biden moved on Change America’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing Including the Senate’s approval Wednesday of legislation to boost semiconductor companies An alternative to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” is the U.S. building more high-tech plants in low-income countries, which aims to boost China’s trade with other global markets.

Kirby listed several areas of friction between the U.S. and China that he said will be part of the conversation.including “The pressures are over TaiwanTensions China’s aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region Outside of Taiwan, Tension in economic relations And about China’s reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

BidenMaintained Trump-era tariffs Among the many products made in China to maintain its influence in Beijing, it Weighing whether to soften at least some of them In a move to reduce the impact of skyrocketing inflation on American families.

US officials have also criticized China’s “zero-Covid” policy Mass testing and lockdowns in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19 in its region are misguided and are worried it could further slow global economic growth.

Other points of tension include China’s treatment of Muslim UighursAmerica declared it a genocide, its Militarization in the South China Sea and a global campaign of economic and political intelligence.

(With information from AP)