Biden to debut at G7 focusing on vaccines, China

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with G7 world leaders on Friday for the first time since taking office.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday he plans to discuss the global response to the pandemic, reopening the world economy and countering China.

The call with the Group of Seven is a chance for Biden to project a message of global reengagement after four years of former President Donald Trump's "America First" policies and unorthodox approach to foreign policy.

Biden is set to pledge $4 billion to the World Health Organization's COVAX scheme, a global initiative which aims to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination in poorer countries.

Meanwhile Britain, which currently chairs the G7, will also ask member countries to help meet a 100-day target for the development of future vaccines.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to share surplus vaccine doses with developing countries and expressed interest in a global health treaty to ensure proper transparency in dealing with future pandemics.

China will also be a top priority on the G7 agenda.

In his first major foreign policy speech as U.S. president, Biden cast China as its "most serious competitor," pledging to confront what he called "China's economic abuses," "aggressive, coercive action" and "attack on human rights."

Made up of the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada, the G7 has a combined GDP of about $40 trillion - a little less than half of the global economy.