Biden, Xi talk to avoid US-China 'conflict:' W.House

US President Joe Biden talked with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time in seven months Thursday, urging they ensure that "competition" between the two powers does not become "conflict," the White House said.

During the call, Biden's message was that the United States wants to ensure "the dynamic remains competitive and that we don't have any situation in the future where we veer into unintended conflict," a senior US administration official told reporters.

 This was the leaders' first call since February, when they talked for two hours, shortly after Biden took over from Donald Trump.