US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a phone conversation that lasted more than two hours, where they discussed the future of the complicated relationship between the two countries.

This is the fifth phone conversation between the two leaders.

The call began at 8:33 a.m. local time in the United States and ended at 10:50 a.m., according to the White House.

Differing views on global health, economic policies and human rights have long tested relations between the two countries.

China's refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine has further strained relations.

The talk comes as China has raised warnings to the Biden administration about a possible visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.

Beijing considers this self-governing island as its territory.

Beijing has said it would consider the visit a provocation, a threat that US officials are taking more seriously in light of Russia's incursion into Ukraine.

"If the US insists on going its own way and challenging China's limits, it will certainly face strong responses," Zhao Lijian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said earlier this week.

Pelosi would become the highest-ranking US lawmaker to visit the island, following her predecessor, Neet Gingrich, who did the same 25 years ago.

Biden told reporters last week that US military officials believed it was "not a good idea" for the visit to take place now.

White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday that it is important to have communication between the two leaders.

"The president wants to make sure that the lines of communication with President Xi remain open because they need that," Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing.

"There are issues on which we can cooperate with China, and there are issues where there is obviously friction and tension."

Biden and Xi last spoke in March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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