“This statement is extremely false and an irresponsible political act. China firmly opposes it,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a news conference.

Biden reaffirmed Wednesday that Xi is a dictator, during a press conference, after meeting with his Chinese counterpart for more than four hours at a mansion known as “Filoli”, about 40 kilometers from central São Paulo . on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum.

“It should be noted that there are always people with ulterior motives who try to stir up and undermine relations between China and the United States,” he added.

According to Mao, “these people know very well who is trying to harm Sino-US relations” and stressed that “they will not succeed.”

Biden’s remarks were made in response to a reporter who asked whether he still considers Xi a dictator. The American leader replied: “Well, look, he is.”

At a fundraiser for his 2024 election campaign last June, Biden began by calling Xi a “dictator,” which caused great unease in Beijing.

At another fundraiser on Tuesday in San Francisco, and on the eve of the meeting, the North American leader said that China had “serious problems”, without specifying exactly what he was referring to.

The two leaders are expected to meet again this week during the high-level segment of the APEC summit, which runs through Friday in San Francisco and also includes the presidents of Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Vietnam, as well as the prime ministers. from Canada, Australia and Japan, among others.