Xi to meet Trump on Oct. 30 in ROK

BEIJING (Xinhua); As agreed between China and the United States, President Xi Jinping will meet with President Donald Trump in Busan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), on Oct. 30 local time to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing that head of state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-U.S. relations. At this meeting in the ROK, the two heads of state will have in-depth communication on strategic and long-term issues concerning China-U.S. relations, as well as major issues of common concern, Guo said.

“We are willing to make joint efforts with the U.S. side to work for positive outcomes of this meeting, which will provide new guidance and impetus for the stable development of bilateral relations,” Guo said.

Aljazeera reports; United States President Donald Trump expects “a lot of problems” will be solved between Washington and Beijing when he meets China’s President Xi Jinping in South Korea for a high-stakes meeting on Thursday, amid growing trade tensions between the two.

Relations between the two world powers have been strained in recent years, with Washington and Beijing imposing tit-for-tat trade tariffs topping 100 percent against each other this year, the US restricting its exports of semiconductors vital for artificial intelligence (AI) development and Beijing restricting exports of critical rare-earth metals which are vital for the defence industry and also the development of AI, among other issues.

Officials from Washington and Beijing have been locked in trade talks since August to de-escalate trade tensions, and they also came up with a framework for a trade deal during meetings in Malaysia over the weekend.

On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Wednesday, Trump said an expected trade deal between China and the US would be good for both countries and “something very exciting for everybody”.

But only a meeting between Trump and Xi can confirm if a trade deal is really in the making. According to analysts, expectations of the two world powers’ ability to reset their relationship and agree to any deal at this meeting are low.

Trump is scheduled to meet Xi on Thursday in the port city of Busan in southeastern South Korea. The meeting is expected to start at 10am local time (01:00 GMT).