US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) was disappointed with China's President Xi Jinping for not attending the COP26 climate summit. Speaking at his closing press conference at the COP26 Summit, Biden expressed disappointment over with Chinese actions on climate in Rome, and also the lack of willingness for Chinese President Xi Jinping to show up at either the G20 or COP26 summit. He said, "It was a "big mistake" for China's President Xi Jinping not to attend COP26. The rest of the world will look to China and ask what value-added are they providing and they have lost in building influence people around the world and all the people here at COP."

Biden said that staying at home may have cost Xi some influence on the world stage. "By showing up we've had a profound impact on the way I think the rest of the world is looking at the United States and its leadership role. I think it's been a big mistake quite frankly for China," Biden said. Amid the tense relations between US and China, the US President also hit out at Beijing. President Biden said that he is not concerned with the possibility of an armed conflict with China, adding that he's made clear to Chinese President Xi that this is "competition" not "conflict."