President Xi Jinping’s APEC trip underscores China’s resolve to advance openness, cooperation, and shared prosperity across the Asia-Pacific region.
From October 30 to November 1, 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to the Republic of Korea (ROK) to attend the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting and also pay a state visit to the country. This is Xi’s first overseas trip following the conclusion of the fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, underscoring its importance in China’s diplomatic agenda.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the second session of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and delivers a speech titled "Jointly Forging a Sustainable and Brighter Future" in Gyeongju, South Korea, Nov. 1, 2025. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)
During the three-day visit, Xi had a packed schedule of high-level engagements, including meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and ROK President Lee Jae-myung, as well as participation in APEC discussions. Throughout these activities, Xi reaffirmed China’s commitment to advancing openness, deepening regional cooperation, and promoting shared prosperity.
China-U.S. Relations: Dialogue over Division
The most anticipated event, the meeting between Xi and Trump in Busan on October 30, attracted worldwide attention. This is their first face-to-face meeting in six years and comes at a critical time when the two countries’ bilateral relations have been beset by recurring challenges. The meeting’s successful conclusion charts the future path of the two most powerful countries in the world.
Tariffs, rare earths, and chips — these buzzwords have come to symbolize the tensions straining China-U.S. relations over recent months, as the two countries exchanged tit-for-tat measures, offering a cautionary example of how to manage a relationship that is vital to both sides and the world at large.
To get the relationship back on track, the U.S. needs to view China in an objective and rational light. For years, hawkish voices in Washington have politicized China’s rise for their own political agendas, misleading public opinion and fueling unnecessary tensions. The U.S. should not let such narratives cloud its judgment or dictate its China policy.
From fighting side by side during World War II against fascism, to reopening exchanges through the historic “ping-pong diplomacy” in the 1970s, and then to joining hands in addressing global challenges in the 21st century, history has repeatedly shown that China and the U.S. are partners and friends capable of cooperation for mutual benefit, not inevitable rivals or enemies.
Xi told Trump in their meeting that China has no intention to challenge or supplant anyone. “Our focus has always been on managing China’s own affairs well, improving ourselves, and sharing development opportunities with all countries across the world,” he said. In fact, as Xi put it, China’s development and revitalization go hand in hand with Trump’s vision to “Make America Great Again.”
The two sides should acknowledge their differences while pursuing dialogue and cooperation. Relations between countries, much like those between individuals, are bound to encounter frictions. What matters most is managing those differences responsibly and preventing them from escalating into confrontation.
“Given different national conditions, the two sides do not always see eye to eye with each other, and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then,” said Xi. He emphasized that as leaders at the helm of China-U.S. relations, they should stay on the right course, navigate through the complex landscape, and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship that is China-U.S. relations, in the face of winds, waves, and challenges.
The agreement reached between China and the U.S. in Kuala Lumpur in October, to pause and step back from some of the retaliatory measures, is a welcome development. “The two sides should think big and recognize the long-term benefit of cooperation and must not fall into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation,” cautioned Xi.
Building a Shared Future for the Asia-Pacific
In his speech at the first session of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on October 31, 2025, Xi highlighted APEC’s pivotal role in advancing development across the Asia-Pacific. “Over the past 30-plus years since its founding, from drafting the blueprint of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), to advancing the vision of an Asia-Pacific community, APEC has been spearheading the region’s rise to the forefront of global open development, and has made Asia-Pacific the most dynamic part of the global economy,” said Xi.
Accounting for one-third of the world’s population, more than 60 percent of the world’s GDP, and nearly half of global trade, the Asia-Pacific region today stands as the main engine of global economic growth. Xi reaffirmed China’s steadfast commitment to free trade and presented the country’s vision for fostering continued prosperity and cooperation across the region.
To start with, Xi put forward five point proposals for promoting a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization and building an Asia-Pacific community. These proposals called for working together to safeguard the multilateral trading system, build an open economic environment in the region, keep industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, advance the digital and green transformation of trade, and promote universally beneficial and inclusive development.
Speaking at the second session of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on November 1, 2025, Xi also elaborated on how to build a sustainable and brighter future together. He emphasized the need to unleash the potential of digital and smart development to give the Asia Pacific region a fresh edge in innovation-driven development, to stay committed to green and low-carbon development to build a new paradigm for sustainable development in the Asia Pacific, and to build an inclusive and universally beneficial future to foster a new dynamism in the region’s inclusive growth.
Another major highlight of Xi’s trip was a series of bilateral meetings with leaders from other APEC member economies. Among them, his state visit to the ROK and talks with President Lee Jae-myung drew particular attention. The meeting is widely seen as a significant step in reaffirming mutual trust and deepening cooperation between the two Asian neighbors, at a time of shifting regional dynamics.
This visit marks Xi’s first trip to the country in 11 years. During his previous visit in July 2014, when addressing Seoul National University, Xi described the journey as “dropping by a neighbor’s home and visiting a friend.” Quoting a traditional Chinese saying, he stressed that a good neighbor is more precious than gold.
Over the decades, that neighborly friendship has evolved into robust cooperation and immense economic potential. According to statistics, since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, bilateral trade between China and the ROK has increased more than sixtyfold. China has remained the ROK’s largest trading partner for 21 consecutive years, while the ROK is China’s second-largest trading partner.
When meeting with Lee Jae-myung, Xi reiterated that China and South Korea are important geographic neighbors, something that cannot be changed, and cooperation partners that cannot be separated. He expressed China’s willingness to enhance communication with the ROK, deepen cooperation, expand common interests, and tackle challenges together, ensuring that the China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership contributes more positive energy to regional peace and development.
Xi’s visit not only highlighted China’s growing influence in shaping Asia-Pacific economic governance, but also reflected the country’s readiness to strengthen dialogue, build trust, and pursue win-win cooperation with major partners. Amid global economic headwinds and shifting geopolitical dynamics, Xi’s diplomacy at APEC projected confidence and pragmatism, signaling China’s resolve to seek stability through cooperation and to contribute more certainty, inclusiveness, and vitality to regional and global development.
