In Busan, the leaders of the United States and China held a face-to-face meeting for the first time since 2019. The agenda includes tariffs, rare earth elements and the future of trade relations between the two countries.
Trump and Xi Jinping meet in Busan: what's behind the talks
In the South Korean city of Busan The US President met with the President of the United States Donald Trump and the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. The talks took place on the sidelines of the summit Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC 2025) and became the first personal talks between the two leaders in the last six years.
Main topics of the meeting
As reported by Reuters, The discussions focused on the latter:
trade tariffs,
supply of rare earth elements,
technological cooperation,
security issues in the Asia-Pacific region.
Trump expressed optimism about the prospects for an agreement and said that it was possible «a big step forward» in relations between the US and China.
«We have a chance to open a new page in our relations with China. This will be beneficial for the American people and the entire world,» the US President stressed.
China's position
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China confirmed Beijing's readiness to the stable development of relations with the United States.
«China is ready to work with the United States to maintain a healthy and sustainable dialogue,» the Foreign Ministry said.
Analysts point out that for China, the Busan meeting is an attempt to mitigate the impact of new trade sanctions, introduced by the Trump administration, in particular in the areas of rare earth metals and high technology.
Context.
The meeting in Busan took place against the backdrop of escalating trade war between the US and China, which has been ongoing since 2018.
The Trump administration recently announced its intention to increase tariffs to 100% on a number of Chinese goods, as well as to restrict imports of components used in US industry.
The summit was an important opportunity for both countries resume direct dialogue and reduce tensions affecting the global economy.
What's next?
Despite the optimism of the parties, experts emphasise that any agreement may turn out to be temporary, The US and China remain at odds over strategic issues ranging from Taiwan to global technological competition.
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