Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasized the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC summit on Saturday.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit, hosted by South Korea this year, unfolded under the shadow of rising geopolitical tensions and aggressive economic strategies – ranging from U.S. tariffs to China’s export controls – that have pressured global trade.
Ahead of the gathering, U.S. President Donald Trump announced trade deals with a number of countries, including China and South Korea. But he left before the summit kicked off.
Washington’s views were, however, still on display in the declaration, analysts said, which, unlike last year’s document, did not mention multilateralism or the World Trade Organization.
“It is a result of member countries acknowledging, at least to some degree, that it will be difficult to restore a free trade order based on multilateralism and the World Trade Organization,” said Heo Yoon, a professor of international trade at Sogang University in Seoul.
“We cannot deny anymore that there is a paradigm shift in the global trade order,” Heo added.
With Trump’s swift exit before the leaders’ summit, China positioned itself as a steady advocate of free and open trade, a role the U.S. has dominated for decades. China will host APEC in Shenzhen in 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced.
However, Heo and analysts say the joint declaration suggests that member nations were wary of giving an impression that the U.S. was undermining free trade while picturing China as a guardian of multilateralism.
“Few countries believe there can be a new trade order that excludes the U.S.,” he said.
SOUTH KOREA’S LEE HOSTS XI JINPING
China’s Xi will wrap up his three-day visit to South Korea on Saturday with a state dinner and summit hosted by President Lee Jae Myung, the newly elected U.S. ally who has pledged to balance Seoul’s ties with Beijing.
The stakes are high for Lee, who assumed office in June following the ouster of his hawkish predecessor over a failed attempt to impose martial law. Lee faces the dual challenge of protecting South Korea’s export-driven economy and lowering tensions with North Korea amid rising China-U.S. competition.
Lee said it was difficult to say that relations between Seoul and Beijing had ever been completely normalised, and he hoped for a substantial improvement.
“We must go beyond simple restoration to find a path of cooperation that is beneficial to each other,” Lee told a press conference ahead of his planned meeting with Xi.
Earlier this week, Lee also hosted Trump for a rushed state visit, showering him with gifts and praise before announcing a surprise trade deal aimed at lowering U.S. tariffs in return for billions of dollars in South Korean investment in the U.S.
Lee is set to hold similar events for Xi on Saturday, including a summit meeting and state dinner. This is Xi’s first visit to South Korea in 11 years.
Seoul is a key U.S. military ally, hosting thousands of American troops and relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for protection from nuclear-armed North Korea. Yet its economy is deeply entwined with not just the U.S., but also China, which has grown increasingly challenging for South Korean companies and wields influence over North Korea.
NORTH KOREA ON AGENDA
Lee’s office has said that he and Xi will discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, a diplomatic phrase used to refer to North Korea’s nuclear weapons, which are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Pyongyang, a military and economic ally of China, issued a statement on Saturday dismissing the denuclearisation agenda as an unrealisable “pipe dream”.
Trump had offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to South Korea, but Pyongyang did not make a public response.
Trump met with Xi on Thursday ahead of the APEC summit, striking a deal that includes lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s crackdown on illicit fentanyl trade, the resumption of U.S. soybean purchases and continued flow of rare earths exports. The Chinese president also held talks with the leaders of Japan,Canada, and Thailand.
In closing remarks at APEC, Xi proposed the establishment of a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, while the gathering adopted other declarations on demographic change and AI. But there was no mention of AI regulations.
(Reuters)