Backgrounder: Major meetings between Xi, Obama over past two years

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Washington and is set to hold talks with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Friday.

The following are major previous meetings between Xi and Obama in the past two years.

-- On June 7-8, 2013, Xi paid a visit to the United States, where Xi and Obama held two rounds of talks at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in California and reached consensus on a series of issues, including building a new model of major-country relationship.

The meeting took place only three months after Xi took office as Chinese president. It had been widely anticipated that Xi would have his first presidential-level talks with Obama at the G20 summit in Russia in September 2013. Xi, however, made it happen earlier by dropping by during his trip to Latin America.

Outside the talks covering serious issues including military relations, cybersecurity and climate change, the two presidents were seen strolling side by side under the desert sun, without jackets or ties, in the finely manicured gardens of the Annenberg estate.

-- On Sept. 6, 2013, Xi held bilateral talks with Obama on the sidelines of the eighth G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to forging a new model of major-country relationship and agreed to deepen dialogue and cooperation while managing differences.

-- On March 24, 2014, Xi met Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, the Netherlands. They agreed to maintain close contact and jointly push for a new model of major-country relationship.

The two leaders also exchanged views on cooperation and agreed upon a series of arrangements on China-U.S. exchange and dialogue.

-- On Nov. 10 to Nov. 12, 2014, Obama paid a state visit to China at Xi's invitation after attending the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing. It was his second China tour as U.S. president and the first one in his second term.

During Obama's stay in China that time, the two leaders held a Beijing version of the "retreat meeting," having in-depth talks in the evening at the Zhongnanhai compound, an area of Beijing known as the heart of the Chinese central government.

A joint statement on climate change was issued by China and the United States during their meetings, which was commended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as "an important contribution" to a possible agreement at a UN climate conference in Paris by the end of 2015. Endi