lørdag 1. november 2025

China’s Xi in the limelight at Pacific summit with Trump conspicuous by his absence

Leaders of Pacific countries and territories, including China’s Xi Jinping, adopted a joint declaration on trade and investment at a major summit in South Korea Saturday. But the leader of one global powerhouse is conspicuously absent: Donald Trump.

The US president flew out of South Korea Thursday, moments after his landmark meeting with his Chinese counterpart that appeared to de-escalate the protracted trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies.

With Trump choosing to skip the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation – which groups together countries accounting for more than half of global trade – Xi stepped into the limelight by calling for unity, cooperation and proposing a global body to govern artificial intelligence.