Wednesday’s meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping went as well as anyone could have expected. That is to say, the leaders of the world’s two most powerful countries resolved none of their major disputes, but they reactivated diplomatic relations—which had been moribund for nearly a year—and secured some political goodies that will help them at home.

The most important outcome of the session was the resumption of communications between U.S. and Chinese military officers—not just the top generals but also theater commanders. These channels—which China had cut off more than a year ago—will allow both sides to manage crises more carefully and minimize the chance that misperceptions trigger conflict.

The political goodies concerned hot-button topics in both countries—drugs and trade. As Biden summed it up at a press conference after their meeting, Xi will “significantly reduce” China’s export of fentanyl, the leading source of death among 18- to 49-year-old Americans and a major issue in many U.S. electoral districts. Xi had agreed to cut the flow of the drug a few years ago, but continued to ship precursor chemicals, which can be used in many products. At this meeting, Xi said he would drastically cut back on the precursors as well.

For his part, Xi was allowed to go straight from the meeting to a dinner with more than 300 U.S. business executives—part of his campaign to revive foreign investment in China, which is at its lowest level in a quarter century. The pullout of Western capital is one cause of China’s current economic downturn—which Xi desperately wants to reverse. One reason for the........

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