China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday took centre stage at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea, where he is expected to hold key bilateral meetings after reaching a tentative trade truce with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The agreement, concluded shortly before Trump departed Seoul and skipped the two-day gathering, suspends further restrictions on China’s exports of rare earth minerals a move that had threatened to disrupt global supply chains.
The 21-member economic forum, hosted in the historic South Korean city of Gyeongju, is focusing on strengthening supply chains and reducing trade barriers. However, officials acknowledge that consensus-building has become increasingly difficult amid growing geopolitical tensions.
“Changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the world,” Xi told fellow leaders at the closed-door opening session. “The rougher the seas, the more we must pull together,” he added, calling for protection of the multilateral trading system and greater economic cooperation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is representing Trump at the summit.
With Trump absent, attention has shifted to Xi, who is scheduled to meet Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi marking their first official talks since her surprise election victory earlier this month.
Before departing for the summit, Takaichi said arrangements were underway for the meeting. Although relations between Tokyo and Beijing have improved in recent years, Takaichi’s strong nationalist stance and accelerated military policies could strain ties.
Also Read: Trump, Xi Meet in Busan to Seek Trade-War Truce
Her government has already taken steps to bolster Japan’s defence capabilities amid concerns over China’s territorial ambitions in East Asia. Other contentious issues include Beijing’s detention of Japanese nationals and import restrictions on Japanese agricultural products.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is also scheduled to meet Xi later on Friday to rebuild relations following years of diplomatic rift under former leader Justin Trudeau.
Canada, currently embroiled in a trade dispute with the United States, is seeking to diversify its economic partnerships, with China being its second-largest trading partner.
Tensions between Ottawa and Beijing have lingered over allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections and trade restrictions, including anti-dumping duties on Canadian canola and tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will also meet Xi later in the day, following his country’s recently signed ceasefire accord with Cambodia an agreement witnessed by Trump.
Meanwhile, host President Lee Jae Myung expressed optimism that member states would reach a consensus on a joint declaration before the summit concludes on Saturday.
“It is clear we cannot always be on the same side, but we must work together to achieve common prosperity,” Lee said in his opening address.
South Korean officials remain hopeful that both a ministerial statement and a leaders’ declaration will be adopted something APEC failed to achieve in 2018 and 2019 during Trump’s first term.
On the sidelines of the summit, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected to address a gathering of global executives. The U.S. chipmaker recently became the first company to surpass a $5 trillion valuation, though discussions about its advanced AI chip sales to China were notably absent from the Xi-Trump meeting.
