- Biden warned a bipartisan group of senators in a meeting Thursday that China is aggressively outpacing the United States on infrastructure.
- “They’re investing a lot of money, they’re investing billions of dollars and dealing with a whole range of issues that relate to transportation, the environment and a whole range of other things,” Biden said.
- The meeting and a telephone call between Xi and Biden come as the new U.S. administration works to address human rights abuses and mend trade relations with the world’s second-largest economy.
President of China, Xi Jinping.SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned lawmakers Thursday that China is aggressively outpacing the United States on infrastructure.
“They’re investing a lot of money, they’re investing billions of dollars and dealing with a whole range of issues that relate to transportation, the environment and a whole range of other things,” Biden said he told a bipartisan group of senators whom he met with in the Oval Office.
“They have a major, major new initiative on rail and they already have rail that goes 225 miles an hour with ease,” he explained, adding that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping for two hours on Wednesday. “They’re going to, you know, if we don’t get moving, they’re going to eat our lunch,” Biden said after the meeting with the members of the Environment and Public Works committee.
“We just have to step up. And so what I’d like to talk to these folks about — since they are the key committee — is how we begin this. I’ve laid out what I think we should be doing,” the president added.
The phone call with Xi and the meeting with lawmakers come as the new U.S. administration works to address human rights abuses and mend trade relations with the world’s second-largest economy.
*CNBC
