Beijing

Chinese officials are planning for President Xi Jinping to visit Southeast Asian nations and meet face-to-face with US President Joe Biden in November.

The plan comes after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan which has irked the Chinese government and in response, they launched a military drill around the self-ruled island.

This visit would mark the Chinese leader's first international trip in nearly three years and his first in-person meeting with Biden since the American leader's inauguration.

According to reports, this trip preparations suggest that Xi is confident about his fortunes at a twice-a-decade congress set to take place, where he is expected to break with recent precedent and claim a third term as Communist Party chief.

The Chinese leader is first expected to conclude the party Congress and then would likely attend a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations on the Indonesian island of Bali from November 15 to 16.

After two days, Xi is expected to travel to Bangkok, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, they said.

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Meanwhile, the White House said that the two leaders discussed a possible face-to-face meeting during their recent call and agreed to have their teams follow up to sort out the specifics.