APEC wraps up after Trump-Xi agreement on trade truce
Leaders of 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region wrapped up their annual summit with a statement underscoring regional economic cooperation, just days after the presidents of the United States and China agreed to reduce their trade war.
After two days of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, APEC leaders issued a joint statement pledging greater cooperation to tackle common challenges in the global economy, which has been hit hard by trade tensions between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies.
Meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit on Thursday, US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping reversed earlier steps and agreed to reduce trade tensions.
Trump, known for his rejection of multilateralism, quickly left South Korea after the agreement reached with Xi, ensuring that the Chinese president was the center of attention at the summit.
A joint statement on Saturday said APEC leaders “recognize that the global trading system continues to face serious challenges.”
“We reaffirm our shared awareness that strong trade and investment are vital to the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region,” the statement said.
The joint declaration also said APEC members remain committed to the Putrajaya Vision 2040, a new 20-year growth vision adopted in 2020 that calls for a “free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable” trading environment.
On Friday, Xi said at the summit that China will promote global free trade and supply chain stability; this was a clear effort to position his country as an alternative to Trump’s protectionist policies.
In a written statement sent to the CEO summit held together with APEC, Xi said, “Investing in China is investing in the future.”
Xi also met bilaterally with his Japanese, Canadian and Thai counterparts on Friday and was due to meet South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Saturday for one-on-one talks that Seoul officials said would touch on efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
This agenda apparently angered non-APEC member North Korea.
North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho criticized South Korea on Saturday for talking about its “dream” of achieving North Korea’s denuclearization.
He said North Korea would show that such a move was a “pipe dream” that could never be realized.
Lee, an advocate of reconciliation with North Korea, said he would take “more active preventive steps” to reduce military tensions with North Korea and emphasized that peace on the Korean Peninsula is essential for the prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.
North Korea has since vowed not to put its advancing nuclear program on the negotiating table, but experts say North Korea will aim for comprehensive sanctions relief in exchange for partially abandoning its advancing nuclear program.
While the summit on Friday discussed ways to increase trade and investment, the agenda of Saturday’s meeting included artificial intelligence, demographic challenges and cooperation in the field of cultural industries.
APEC leaders also issued two separate statements on Saturday.
One called for a coordinated approach to the changes brought by artificial intelligence, which they described as a potential economic catalyst that also poses challenges in rapidly evolving digital environments.
The other called for cooperation to combat declining birth rates, an aging population and accelerating urbanization.
Founded in 1989, APEC promotes free and open trade and investment to promote regional economic integration.
However, the region now faces challenges such as US-China competition, supply chain disruptions, an aging population and the impact of artificial intelligence on employment.
U.S. strategy has recently shifted to economic competition with China rather than cooperation, as Trump’s tariff increases and “America first” agenda have rattled markets and threatened decades of globalization and multinationalism.
