Kinling Lo reports from Bali after three days of speeches and sideline meetings, including the first face-to-face talks of presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden since China-US ties worsened. Shi Jiangtao looks at the optics of Xi’s mask-free public appearance; what China watchers are saying was achieved in Xi’s meetings with Biden and other world leaders; and whether they signal a change in the US-China narrative or merely a ray of light in the storm.