Playing a key role at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit in South Korea on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the protection of the multilateral trading system and deeper economic cooperation.
“Changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the world,” Xi told leaders gathered in the South Korean city of Gyeongju.
“The rougher the sea, the more united we must be,” Xi said, seeking to portray China as a defender of global free trade amid protectionist policies imposed by the US.
Earlier this month, Xi threatened to shut down rare earth exports, a key component of high-tech goods like smartphones. However, in South Korea, Xi said at the summit that countries should follow the principle of “enhancing rather than breaking” supply chains.
Many Asian countries are skeptical of Xi’s stated support for free trade as China grows its dominance in manufacturing and exports. Beijing also has a track record of using export controls and other tools in trade disputes.
Xi meets Canada’s Carney
Xi invited Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to China after leaders met in APEC, saying relations were moving “toward a positive development trend.”
Despite tariff friction involving Chinese steel and Canadian canola oil, both countries have been heavily targeted by Trump’s tariffs.
The APEC meeting is the first formal talks between the leaders of China and Canada since 2017.
Carney accepted the invitation, saying, “In recent years, we have not been as active.”
Xi also met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for the first time.
Trump leaves APEC summit early
Xi’s speech came a day after US President Donald Trump, the leader of APEC’s largest economy, left South Korea ahead of the main event. However, Trump met Xi in Busan on Thursday and managed to broker a compromise in the tariff dispute – with Washington and Beijing agreeing to smaller US tariffs in exchange for the easing of China’s restrictions on rare earth minerals.
Casey Mace, the senior US official at APEC, told reporters on Friday that Donald Trump’s schedule “did not completely align” with the plan to allow the president to “pause for all events”. After Trump returned to Washington on Thursday, he hosted a White House Halloween party.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant stood in for the absent Trump. On Friday, Besant said the purpose of U.S. trade policy is to ensure that “each country operates on fair and reciprocal terms.”
Trump’s meeting with Xi overshadowed preparations for the summit, which brings together 21 members of the Pacific Rim economies each year to encourage cooperation and reduce trade and investment barriers.
Summit host, South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung, said the Asia-Pacific region is at a critical juncture in the rapidly changing global economic order.
“As the free trade regime undergoes dramatic changes, global economic uncertainty is deepening and the pace of trade and investment is slowing,” Li told leaders gathered at the opening session on Friday.
“It is clear that we cannot always be on the same side, but we must work together to achieve shared prosperity,” Li said. He said cooperation among APEC members is an “obvious solution” to current economic challenges.
The APEC region accounts for 50% of global trade and 61% of world GDP.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko, Darko Janjevic