US President Joe Biden had a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time since their face-to-face meeting in California last November.

As reported by Bloomberg, according to a high-ranking US official, the American president discussed with Xi China's leverage over Russia and Iran in light of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Biden also expressed concern over China's actions in the South China Sea. That included a recent incident in which the Chinese fired water cannons at a Philippine supply boat.

Biden pressed Xi on anti-drug efforts, he said, while discussing progress made since November on measures to limit and shut down the flow of some chemicals used to make synthetic drugs.

On 15 November, US President Joe Biden met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, their first face-to-face meeting in a year and Xi's first visit to the US in four years.

Hours later, Joe Biden called Xi Jinping a "dictator".