Biden's '17,000 Miles' With Xi Jinping: Told at 41 Events, Official Record Shows (April 12, 2023)

In a pub in Dundalk, Ireland, President Joe Biden told one of his favorite stories. “I was with Xi Jinping. I’ve spent more time with him than any world leader has over the last 10 years,” he said. “And I was in the Tibetan Plateau with him. I traveled 17,000 miles with him in China over 10 years” [1].

He told it a lot. A HYGO News review of the official transcripts published by the American Presidency Project found Biden claiming he “traveled 17,000 miles” with China’s leader at 41 events, from February 2021 to Jan. 17, 2025, three days before he left office [2].

The Washington Post’s fact-checker called the claim “bogus,” Fox News reported [3].

The video above shows the April 12, 2023, version at the Windsor Bar and Restaurant in Dundalk. Quotes are from the official transcripts.

”Bogus”

Fox News laid out the problem the next day, after Biden repeated the line to Ireland’s parliament. Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post “could only confirm one instance in which Biden and Xi appeared to have traveled together when they visited Qingchengshan High School in Dujiangyan when he was vice president in August 2011,” Fox reported [3].

The White House had offered an explanation. “This was a reference to the total travel back and forth — both internally in the U.S. and China, and as well as internationally — for meetings they held together,” a White House official said. “Some travel was in parallel, some was separately to joint destinations” [3].

“Even so, the miles only add up to 5,600 at the most, Kessler reported,” according to Fox. The Post gave the claim its “bottomless Pinocchio,” Fox said, meaning Biden “had said it over 20 times during his presidency” by then [3].

The Hours Kept Growing

The miles never changed. The hours did.

March 19, 2021, CDC briefing. He had met Xi “I guess, they tell me, 24, 25 hours alone, just me and an interpreter” [4].
April 28, 2021, address to Congress. “Traveled over 17,000 miles with him; spent, they tell me, over 24 hours in private discussions with him” [5].
Oct. 14, 2022, Oregon Democrats. “Over 78 hours with him alone, 8, 9 of those hours on the phone and the others in person” [6].
April 12, 2023, Dundalk. “Over now 87 hours’ worth” [1].
April 13, 2023, Irish parliament. “Over—excuse me, 91 hours of just one-on-one conversations—68 in-person” [7].
Aug. 13, 2024, Tulane University. “I spent over 80 hours with him alone over 17,000 miles in China” [8].
Jan. 17, 2025, U.S. Conference of Mayors. “I’ve met with him for over a—90 hours alone, traveled 17,000 miles with him” [9].

”On the Tibetan Plateau”

The story often came with a scene. In July 2021, at a naturalization ceremony, Biden said: “I was with Xi Jinping in—on the Tibetan Plateau, and he asked me that when I traveled with him 17,000 miles.” Xi asked, “Can you define America for me?” Biden said his answer was “one word: possibilities” [10].

He told it the same way in his last month in office. “I remember being on Tibetan Plateau with Xi Jinping,” Biden told the mayors in January 2025 [9].

The route kept moving, too. It was “in China, in the United States, and Asia generally” in 2021 [4]; “through Asia primarily and through China” in Dublin [7]; and “in the United States and a—and in China” at the Economic Club of Washington in September 2024 [11].

”Not a Joke”

Biden also gave different reasons for the trips. At a CNN town hall in February 2021, he said he got to know Xi “at the request of President Hu—not a joke—his predecessor, President Hu—and President Obama wanted us to get to know one another because he was going to be the President” [13].

At his Nov. 9, 2022, news conference, it was Obama’s idea. “President Obama knew he couldn’t spend time with the Vice President of another country, so I traveled 17,000 miles with them in China and around—and the United States,” Biden said [14].

At a California fundraiser in June 2023, he added a detail: “I traveled 17,000 miles with him, usually one on one” [15].

By the Numbers

41: events where Biden claimed the 17,000 miles in the official transcripts, by HYGO News’ count [2].
5,600: the most miles the Post could find, as Fox reported [3].
1: joint trip Kessler could confirm, to a high school in Dujiangyan in 2011 [3].
24 to 91: the range of hours alone with Xi that Biden claimed over the years [4][7].
3 days: from Biden’s last telling found to the end of his term [9][12].

What Happened Next

He told it to the end. Biden’s final telling found in the record came on Jan. 17, 2025, at the U.S. Conference of Mayors [9].

Trump took over the China file. On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn in again. “The golden age of America begins right now,” he said in his inaugural address [12].

For another story Biden repeated for years, see HYGO News’ page on his “no seats” joke.