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.
In a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the meeting between both leaders.
The bilteral meeting will happen at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (Apec), which takes place from the 31 Oct – 1 Nov this year in South Korea’s Gyeongju.
“I’ll be meeting with President Xi of China. We have a pretty long meeting scheduled. We can work out a lot of our doubts and questions and our tremendous assets together,” Trump had said earlier.
“I think something will work out. We have a very good relationship, but that will be a big one.”
Trump is also set to meet South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung during his trip to South Korea, 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 with its new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, said the White House press secretary.
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 with Xi is 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. In a post on social media, he slammed Beijing, accusing them of trying to hold the world “captive” and accusing China of becoming “very hostile”.
Trump had then threatened to pull out of the upcoming meeting.
China dominates production of rare earths and certain other key materials, which are key components in cars, smartphones and many other items.
By BBC News
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