GYEONJU, South Korea (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Asia-Pacific leaders Saturday that his country will help defend global free trade as U.S. President Donald Trump neglected the region's annual economic forum.
Xi Jinping took center stage Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit It began yesterday in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, when Trump left the country just hours before the summit opened after reaching agreements with Xi Jinping to ease escalating tensions. trade war.
This year's two-day APEC summit was heavily overshadowed by a meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping, which was organized on the sidelines.
Trump described his meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday as a resounding success, saying he would cut tariffs on China while Beijing agreed to allow exports of rare earths and to start buying U.S. soybeans. Their suggestions came as a relief to the global economy, rocked by trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Trump's decision to skip APEC is consistent with his known disdain for the large multinational forums that have traditionally been used to solve huge global problems, but his abrupt dismissal of APEC comes with risks. America's deteriorating reputation in a forum that represents nearly 40% of the world's population and more than half of global merchandise trade.
Xi Jinping defends multilateralism
“The more turbulent the times, the more we must work together,” Xi Jinping said at the opening of the APEC session. “The world is going through a period of rapid change, and the international situation is becoming increasingly complex and unstable.”
Xi Jinping called for maintaining supply chain stability in response to US efforts to decouple its supply chains from China.
Xi Jinping also expressed hope to work with other countries to expand cooperation in green industry and clean energy. China's exports of solar panels, electric vehicles and other green technologies have been criticized for creating excess supply and undermining the domestic industries of the countries to which they export.
This is Xi Jinping's first visit to South Korea in 11 years, and he is scheduled to meet with the South Korean president. Lee Jae-myung and the new Prime Minister of Japan the new Prime Minister of Japan Sanae Takaichi separately on Friday.
APEC faces challenges
Created in 1989 during a period of increasing globalization, APEC represents more than half of world trade and advocates free and open trade and investment to accelerate regional economic integration. But the APEC region is now facing challenges such as strategic competition between USA and Chinasupply chain vulnerabilities, aging populations and the impact of AI on jobs. US strategy has shifted toward economic competition with China rather than cooperation, and Trump's tariff hikes and America First agenda have rattled markets and threatened decades of globalization and multinationalism.
