Trump, Xi to meet in S Korea; talks to focus on US-China strategic, long-term issues: Beijing

Beijing, Oct 29 (PTI) US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will meet on Thursday in South Korea and exchange views on strategic and long-term bilateral issues, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Wednesday.

The two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan.

As agreed between China and the US, President Xi will meet with President Trump to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Gou Jiakun told a media briefing here.

“We are willing to work with the US side to promote this meeting to yield positive results, provide new guidance and to inject new momentum for the stable development of China–US relations," Gou said.

He added that head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-US relations, which are currently bogged down over Trump’s massive trade tariffs against Chinese exports and Beijing's retaliatory actions.

At the meeting, the two heads of state will have in-depth discussions on strategic and long-term issues concerning China–US relations, as well as major issues of mutual concern.

This is their first meeting after Trump’s second term in office and comes in the backdrop of a massive trade war between the world's top two economies.

High on the agenda is the formalisation of an agreement for the sale of China’s top social media app TikTok to designated American firms, as well as the resumption of rare-earth metals exports, the much-needed key component of dual-use technologies needed for the manufacturing of various items, from mobile phones to defence equipment, blocked by China.

For its part, Beijing wants Washington to lift the restrictions on the exports of semiconductor chips needed for the development and expansion of AI-related technology in China.

Xi and Trump spoke over the phone recently and finalised the contours of a trade deal to normalise trade ties.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday morning, Trump said he expected to discuss with Xi fentanyl flows into the US to address the drug menace and American farm exports to China.

Trump’s remarks followed a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday suggesting that Washington might reduce the 20 per cent fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese exports by half in exchange for Beijing’s crackdown on the export of chemicals used to produce fentanyl.

“I expect to be lowering that because I believe that they’re gonna help us with the fentanyl situation,” Trump said on Wednesday, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

“They’re gonna be doing what they could do.” Answering media questions regarding fentanyl, Guo said Beijing had provided help in this regard with positive results and was “open to continuing cooperation”.

“The US should take concrete actions to create the necessary conditions for cooperation,” added Guo, calling China’s stance on the issue consistent and clear.

When asked about a possible one-year pause in Beijing’s rare earth export controls and whether it could lead to further concessions, Trump said: “We haven’t talked about the timing yet, but we’re gonna work out something.” Trump voiced optimism about reaching a “great deal” with China in his talks with Xi as he spoke to business executives on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Trump said he believed a deal would benefit both the US and China and be “something very exciting for everybody”. PTI KJV GRS GRS GRS