APEC summit to close in South Korea after Trump, Xi agreed on trade truce

ABC:

GYEONGJU, South Korea — Leaders of 21 Asian and Pacific Rim nations are to set to wrap up their annual economic forum on Saturday after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a temporary truce on their trade war, generating relief around the world.

This year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju was heavily overshadowed by Thursday’s Trump-Xi meeting that ended with the two leaders dialing back their earlier trade steps and de-escalating their trade tensions.

The high-stakes meeting was arranged on the sidelines of APEC. Trump, known for his dismissal of multilateralism, quickly left South Korea after reaching deals with Xi, allowing the Chinese president to steal the limelight at the summit.

During the APEC summit’s opening session Friday, Xi said China would support global free trade and supply chain stability in an apparent effort to position his country as an alternative to Trump’s protectionist policies. In written remarks sent to a CEO summit held in conjunction with APEC, Xi said that “Investing in China is investing in the future.”

Xi met his Japanese, Canadian and Thai counterparts bilaterally on the sidelines of APEC on Friday. He’s to meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday for talks that Seoul officials said would touch on efforts to achieve denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.