Biden and Xi huddled on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru as they began their first talks in seven months, according to Chinese state media.
Washington is incensed by a recent China-linked hack of the telephone communications of US government and presidential campaign officials, and it is anxious about increasing pressure by Beijing on Taiwan and Chinese support for Russia.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is planning to stop in the US state of Hawaii and maybe Guam on a sensitive visit that is sure to anger Beijing in the coming weeks, Reuters reported on Friday.
Meanwhile, Biden met Taiwan's representative at the summit, former economy minister Lin Hsin-i, who on Friday invited him to visit Taiwan in the near future.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory. The US is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic recognition.
At the same time, Beijing's economy is taking a stiff hit from Biden's steps on trade, including a plan to restrict US investment in Chinese artificial intelligence, quantum computing and semiconductors and export restrictions on high-end computer chips.
All of those topics are expected to figure into the talks, US officials said.
China routinely denies US hacking allegations, regards Taiwan as an internal matter and has protested American statements on Sino-Russian trade. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment.
Trump has vowed to adopt blanket 60 per cent tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods as part of a package of "America First" trade measures.
Beijing opposes those steps. The president-elect also plans to hire several hawkish voices on China in senior roles, including US Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan has described the transition as "a time when competitors and adversaries can see possibly opportunity."
Biden will stress with Xi the "need to maintain stability, clarity, predictability through this transition between the United States and China".
Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, said China wants the meeting to ease tensions during the transition period. "China definitely does not want relations with the United States to be thrown into turmoil before Trump formally takes office," said Shen.
Pacific Rim leaders gathered at the APEC summit are assessing the implications of Trump's return to power as US president on January 20.
Xi, who arrived in Lima on Thursday, plans a week-long diplomatic blitz in Latin America that includes a refurbished free-trade agreement with Peru, inaugurating the massive Chancay deep-water port there and being welcomed in Brazil's capital next week for a state visit.
China also announced plans to host the APEC summit in 2026.
