Trump "Agreed to meet Xi Jinping at Korea APEC…will visit China early next year"

U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 19th (local time) that he had agreed to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Korea at the end of next month.

President Trump said on the SNS Truth Social that he had "completed a productive call" with President Xi.

Accordingly, the APEC summit held in Gyeongju from October 31 for one night and two days is expected to become a diplomatic event the world will watch, along with a meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders that will have an important impact on global security and trade.

It is currently unknown whether the U.S.-China leaders' meeting at APEC will be a formal summit or an informal meeting, but it appears likely that the first face-to-face meeting between President Trump and President Xi since the start of Trump's second term will take place in Korea.

President Trump also said that after meeting President Xi at the APEC summit, he "will visit China early next year," and that "President Xi likewise will come to the United States at an appropriate time."

If President Trump visits China early next year, it will be the first time in about eight years that a U.S. president has visited China.

It would be the first visit since President Trump visited China in November 2017 during his first term. Earlier, President Xi visited the United States in September 2015.

President Trump said in the call with President Xi that "we made progress on many issues, including trade, fentanyl, the need to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, and approval for the sale of TikTok."

President Trump said, "The call was very good, and we agreed to talk again," and "Thank you for the TikTok approval. Both sides are looking forward to the meeting at APEC."

Earlier, the two leaders began the call at 8 a.m. (9 p.m. KST on the 19th). The call came after the fourth high-level U.S.-China negotiations held in Madrid, Spain on the 14th–15th, where a broad agreement was reached on handling TikTok's U.S. business.

Joo Yong-seok, head of the international desk hohoboy@hankyung.com