Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to hold meeting in South Korea amid hopes for trade deal – live updates | China
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What’s on the agenda of the Trump-Xi meeting?
Amy Hawkins
Today’s talks will focus on tariffs as Donald Trump tries to end the frustrating trade war with Beijing; Taiwan and Russia are also likely to be discussed.
“We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us,” Trump told reporters as he set out on the trip. “I think we’ll have a good meeting.”
Here are more details about what the two will talk about:
Welcome summary
Hello, welcome to our live broadcast. First meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping since 2019. The meeting took place amid hopes that the leaders of the United States and China could strike a trade deal that would bring a truce to the fierce trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has roiled global markets and thrown international supply chains into panic.
Negotiators from Beijing and Washington confirmed that a “framework” had been agreed. It is now up to Trump and Xi, who will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in South Korea today, to sign.
The meeting will start at 11.00 local time – within an hour – It’s in Busan, a port city about 76 km (47 mi) south of Gyeongju, the main venue for the Apec summit. In the news a few minutes ago, citing Chinese state media, it was said that Xi had left Beijing for South Korea.
Rare earth elements will be at the top of the meeting agenda. China’s control of supplies of critical minerals vital to U.S. industries, from carmaking to military equipment, has been a powerful bargaining chip for Beijing.
China controls approximately 70% of the world’s rare earth mining and more than 90% of its processing capacity. This month, Beijing stepped up restrictions on exports of rare earth elements and related technologies, citing national security concerns. This comes shortly after the United States expanded restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductor technology to China, analysts said.
There will also be discussion of the Ukraine war and China’s claims against Taiwan, but Trump said on Wednesday: “I don’t even know if we’re going to talk about Taiwan.”
The meeting came after Trump visited Malaysia, Japan and South Korea during his Asia tour and struck a series of deals on rare earth elements.
We will follow the developments in Busan closely; stay with us.
