Obama and Xi seek to bridge strategic divide

Barack Obama and Xi Jinping will meet in Beijing at the Apec leaders’ gathering, at a time when their careers are on very different trajectories and bilateral relations have turned sour.

Hamstrung by the Democratic party’s poor showing in last Tuesday’s midterm elections, Mr Obama is limping into the final two years of his presidency while Mr Xi can look forward to another eight years in office, during which time China is set to overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy.