A day after securing a deal for rollback of U.S. tariffs, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Asia-Pacific countries to support free trade, and maintain supply chain stability.
“The more turbulent the times, the more we must work together,” Xi said in a Chinese state media readout Friday, translated by CNBC. He was speaking at the first session of the Asia Pacific-Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ meeting that runs through Saturday.
Xi arrived in South Korea Thursday and met with U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time since 2019.
China and U.S. agreed to grant 1-year concessions over tariffs, export controls, and other issues in a relative thawing of relations impacted by tit-for-tat trade measures. U.S. cut tariffs on Chinese goods by 10 percentage points, while Beijing agreed to allow exports of critically needed rare earths.
Trump returned to the U.S. Thursday, while Xi stayed on for the summit. In his speech, the Chinese leader reiterated his view that the world was undergoing changes not seen in a century, and emphasized how Beijing was offering global opportunities in the face of growing instability and uncertainties in the Asia-Pacific region.
