Biden tells Xi that US is unhappy with new air defence zone US vice-president Joe Biden called on Chinese leaders to take steps to lower tensions in east Asia and criticised China's treatment of American journalists in a speech to members of the US business community in Beijing. Following more than four hours of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Mr Biden said he had been "very direct about our firm position" on Beijing's declaration of a new air defence identification zone in the East China Sea that has prompted denunciations from several of China's neighbours. "China's recent and sudden announcement of the establishment of a new air defence identification zone has, to state the obvious, caused significant apprehension in the region," Mr Biden told about 90 businesspeople and journalists on Thursday in Beijing. China needs to "take steps to reduce the risk of accidental conflict and miscalculation" and "refrain from taking steps that will increase tension," he added. But as with his appearance in Japan earlier this week, Mr Biden stopped short of calling on China to abolish the zone, which overlaps with a similar one established by Japan in the late 1960s and also includes a group of disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. I was very direct about our firm position and our expectations in my conversation with President Xi but I also put this in a broader context - the Asia Pacific region will be the driver of the global economy in the 21st century and as China's economy grows its stake in regional security will continue to grow as well because it has so much more to lose. A US official travelling with Mr Biden said Mr Xi was "equally comprehensive [as Mr Biden] in laying out China's perspective on the zone" and other regional security issues. The official said "ultimately President Xi took on board what the vice-president laid out." In his speech, Mr Biden said the Chinese government's treatment of US journalists was one area where Beijing and Washington have "profound disagreements." He did not elaborate but he was apparently referring to the blocking of US news websites such as the New York Times and Bloomberg and harassment of both companies" journalists, some of whom have been refused visas to work in China. The problems for the New York Times and Bloomberg began after both published investigative reports exposing the enormous wealth accumulated by top Chinese leaders and their relatives. The Times reporting focused on the family money of former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, while Bloomberg has reported on the large fortune built up by relatives of President Xi. "History tells us that innovation is the currency of the 21st century [and] innovation thrives where people breathe freely, speak freely, are able to challenge orthodoxy, where newspapers can report the truth without fear of consequences," Mr Biden said on Thursday. Bloomberg is yet to publish an investigative report on the connections between China's richest man and senior Chinese leaders that has caused controversy after other media, including the FT, reported that Bloomberg editors blocked the story because of fears the company would be kicked out of China. The reporter who led that investigation has now left Bloomberg. Japan, South Korea, Australia and the US have all objected to China's new ADIZ, which covers most of the East China Sea. One high-ranking Japanese official familiar with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's thinking said Tokyo would have "rejoiced" if Mr Biden had delivered a stronger message to China before heading in Beijing. But he said there was a "common sense" that putting too much pressure on him would have been counterproductive. Xinhua, China's state media agency, said Mr Xi told Mr Biden that China and the US "should firmly maintain the correct direction of bilateral relations, and called for both sides to respect each other's core interests and major concerns, actively expand co-operation, properly handle sensitive questions and disputes, and ensure the steady and sound growth of bilateral relations." Later on Thursday, Mr Biden will travel to South Korea where he is also expected to discuss China's ADIZ. South Korean and Japanese commercial airlines are not complying with the rules attached to the new zone by refusing to provide flight plans to China unless their final destination is mainland China. The US Federal Aviation Administration has urged US commercial aircraft to comply with the rules - a move that upset Tokyo. On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry said that 55 airlines from 22 countries and regions have agreed to report their flight plans through China's new ADIZ.