Antony Blinken reacts in horror as Joe Biden calls President Xi 'dictator'

Footage has captured US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appearing taken aback and shaking his head disapprovingly after President Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "dictator".

At the end of a press briefing on Wednesday, local time, President Biden was asked if he'd continue labelling his Chinese counterpart as a dictator, a term he'd used earlier in the year.

“Well, look, he is," he said.

"I mean, he's a dictator in the sense that he is the guy who runs a country that is a communist country that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours anyway (inaudible)”.

Mr Biden's remarks follow his first face-to-face meeting in a year with President Xi, aimed at stabilising their tense relationship.

Spending four hours together, including meetings, lunch, and a garden stroll, they aimed to portray their status as global rivals without being engaged in an all-or-nothing competition.