US, Oct 30 : President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday for a closely watched bilateral meeting ahead of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Summit their first face-to-face interaction since Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
The two leaders exchanged a firm handshake on a red carpet lined with US and Chinese flags before sitting down for discussions largely centred on trade, tariffs, and economic cooperation. Trump described Xi as a “very tough negotiator,” signalling the meeting’s focus on long-standing economic disputes and future engagement.
The high-profile dialogue came a day before the APEC Summit in Gyeongju (October 31–November 1), with global observers watching for signs of de-escalation in the tense Washington-Beijing relationship. Recent frictions over tariffs, technology trade barriers, and China’s restrictions on rare earth exports have rattled global markets.
According to officials from both nations, the Busan talks aimed to “stabilise relations” amid these challenges. US sources suggested Trump may ease his earlier threat of a 100 per cent import tax on Chinese goods, while Beijing was reportedly open to relaxing export curbs and resuming soybean imports from the US.
Speaking aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea, Trump hinted at a softer approach toward Beijing’s role in curbing fentanyl production. “I expect to be lowering [tariffs] because I believe they’re going to help us with the fentanyl situation,” he said. “The relationship with China is very good.”
Ahead of the meeting, Trump took to Truth Social, referring to the summit as the “G2” underscoring the dominance of the US and China in shaping the global economic order.
Meanwhile, China’s state run Xinhua confirmed Xi’s arrival in South Korea “by special plane to attend the APEC informal leaders’ meeting and pay a state visit at the invitation of President Lee Jae Myung.”
However, the atmosphere grew more complex after Trump’s surprise announcement hours before the meeting instructing the Department of War to resume nuclear weapons testing. In a post on Truth Social, Trump justified the move as a response to other countries’ testing programs, asserting that the United States “must act on an equal basis.”
Despite the dramatic backdrop, both leaders were expected to focus on trade normalization, rare earth supplies, and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
If handled with care, the Busan meeting could mark the first step toward recalibrating one of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationships one that has shaped global trade, security, and diplomacy for decades.