Trump will meet Xi in South Korea, says White House

US President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea on 30 October on the sidelines of a summit in Asia, the White House has confirmed.

The meeting between Xi and Trump has been in the works for weeks but was called into question as tensions between the world’s two largest economies continued to rise.

It will be the first face-to-face meeting for both leaders since Trump’s return to office.

Trump has threatened to impose an extra 100% tariff on Chinese goods from November if China does not roll back its tightened restrictions on its rare earth exports.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the meeting in a briefing on Thursday

The bilteral meeting will happen at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation Summit (Apec), which takes place from the 31 October - 1 November this year in South Korea’s eastern city of Gyeongju.

“We have a pretty long meeting scheduled,” Trump had said earlier. “We can work out a lot of our doubts and questions and our tremendous assets together.”

He added: “I think something will work out. We have a very good relationship, but that will be a big one.”

China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao expressed optimism on Friday over the upcoming negotiations with the US.

He said past rounds of talks showed that “it is entirely possible to find solutions to each other’s concerns” and “promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations”.

Trump is also set to meet South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung during his visit, and participate in a working dinner for leaders.

It is part of a wider trip that Trump is taking to Asia, which also includes a stop for him at a meeting in Malaysia on Sunday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.

He will also meet leaders from Malaysia, South Korea and Japan - notably the latter’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Leavitt said.

Trump and Xi have spoken at least three times this year, most recently in September, when they discussed a deal over TikTok’s operations in the US.

They last met in person in 2019, during Trump’s first term as president.

Trump has said that speaking directly to Xi was the most effective approach to resolving persistent tensions between the US and China, like tariffs, trade disputes, fentanyl trafficking and other issues.

The US and China have clung to a fragile trade ceasefire brokered in May, preventing triple-digit tariffs that was threatened between both countries.

But in October, China tightened export controls on rare earths - leading Trump to threaten an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports. He slammed Beijing in a post on social media, accusing it of trying to hold the world “captive” and of becoming “very hostile”.

Trump had then threatened to pull out of the upcoming meeting.

China dominates production of rare earths and certain other materials, which are key components in cars, smartphones and many other items.

Source: BBC --Agencies