APEC leaders wrap up summit after Trump and Xi attain truce in commerce warfare | Business and Economy News | USAEMALL.com

Gyeongju, South Korea – Asian and Pacific Rim leaders have pledged their support for trade and investment that “benefits all”, concluding a summit dominated by an agreement between the leaders of the United States and China to call a truce in their trade war.

The declaration by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders on Saturday came after US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, earlier agreed to lower the temperature in the heated US-China rivalry during a high-stakes summit held on the sidelines of the event.

Trump departed South Korea on Thursday after his talks with Xi, their first face-to-face meeting since 2019, leaving the Chinese leader to take centre stage at the two-day economic forum.

Xi, who has cast China as a defender of multilateralism and free trade, told the opening of the event on Friday that countries needed to work together as they faced an “increasingly complex and volatile” global environment.

In their declaration, the APEC leaders said “robust” trade and investment were vital to the region’s growth, and stressed their commitment to “deepening economic cooperation to navigate the evolving global environment”.

APEC, whose 21 members include the US, China, Japan and South Korea, will advance economic integration that is “market-driven” and enhance “experience sharing, capacity building, business engagement”, the declaration said.

The leaders also pledged regional cooperation on artificial intelligence and demographic challenges arising from falling birth rates.

Speaking before the declaration, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, the summit’s host, warned that economies were navigating an era of mounting global uncertainty.

“The free trade system is experiencing strong turbulence, global economic uncertainty is deepening, and momentum for trade and investment is weakening,” Lee said.

‘Fraught exercise’

Saturday’s statement notably did not directly reference multilateralism or the World Trade Organization, a reminder of the fraying consensus on free trade amid rising populism worldwide.

Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, said it was “probably a miracle” that the leaders had been able to agree on a joint statement.

“Given the strong positions of some APEC economies, getting any agreed language into a document was a fraught exercise,” Elms told Al Jazeera.

“Normally, these are wrapped up well in advance. This one hung in the balance to the last minute as officials swapped out wording to find an acceptable compromise.”

After earlier meetings with his Japanese, Canadian and Thai counterparts, Xi later on Saturday sat down with Lee for talks expected to focus on issues including trade and North Korea’s nuclear programme.

The meeting is the first between Xi – who lasted visited South Korea in 2014 – and Lee since the South Korean leader’s election in a snap poll in June.

Lee has pledged to pursue a more balanced policy towards China than his conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached for briefly declaring martial law last year.

South Korea, like other countries in the region, has had to walk a fine line between the US, its security guarantor, and China, its biggest trading partner.

The US stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea and is treaty-bound to come to its defence if it is attacked, a legacy of Washington’s support for the country in its 1950-53 war with North Korea.

South Korea sent nearly one-fifth of its exports to China in 2024, with the value of its shipments hitting $133bn.

The US was the country’s second-largest export destination, with shipments of $127.8bn.

South Korea’s relations with China have been tested by a series of disputes in recent years, most notably a spat over the US’s 2017 deployment of a THAAD missile defence system in the country.

Lee wants to see South Korea’s most important relationships “remain stable, which means lowering tensions with China, preventing a drastic decline in US relations and capitalising on the diplomatic heavy lifting his predecessor did with Japan”, said Rob York, director for regional affairs at the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum.

“For now, that will mean striking a friendly note with both Chairman Xi and President Trump, even as he takes steps behind the scenes to lessen dependencies on the US for security and to counter PRC hybrid war operations in South Korea related to maritime issues and technology theft,” York told Al Jazeera, referring to China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

“Initial signs suggest Lee is serious about tackling those issues but will try to do so discreetly – there really isn’t much to be gained right now in having those issues erupt in public.”