Chinese President Xi Jinping has emerged as a central figure at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea, holding key bilateral talks with leaders from Canada, Japan, and Thailand, just days after securing a temporary trade truce with the United States.
Xi’s prominence is amplified by the absence of U.S. President Donald Trump, who departed South Korea and skipped the two-day summit in Gyeongju. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent represented Trump at the gathering.
The APEC summit, which began on October 31, focuses on strengthening global supply chains. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung opened the meeting, emphasizing escalating global economic uncertainty and a loss of momentum in trade and investment among the 21 member economies.
Xi’s diplomatic engagements include a significant anticipated meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Takaichi, identified in the source as Japan’s first female prime minister, brings nationalist views and assertive security policies that could strain recently improved bilateral ties.
Discussions between China and Japan are expected to cover Takaichi’s early actions, which include boosting military capabilities to counter China’s territorial ambitions. Other agenda items are the detention of Japanese citizens in China and Chinese import restrictions on Japanese products like beef and seafood.
Separately, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to meet Xi at 4:00 PM local time. The meeting aims to “restart broad relations” with China after years of strained ties.
Canada seeks to diversify its trade away from the U.S., its largest trading partner, due to ongoing trade disputes. China remains Canada’s second-largest trading partner. Past tensions include the detention and execution of Canadian citizens in China, alleged Chinese interference in Canadian elections, and recent reciprocal tariffs on Canadian canola and Chinese electric vehicles.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is also slated to meet Xi on the same afternoon. This follows a “joint statement” signing between Thailand and Cambodia in Malaysia, which President Trump had witnessed.
The temporary trade truce between Xi and Trump was reached shortly before the APEC summit. Trump had recently positioned himself as a global peace mediator. Xi had affirmed China’s critical role in promoting dialogue and reconciliation on various urgent issues during their meeting on Thursday.
In a parallel event, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to speak at an executive gathering on Friday afternoon. Despite Nvidia’s valuation exceeding $5 trillion, the sensitive issue of U.S. advanced AI chip sales to China was reportedly omitted from the recent Xi-Trump discussions.