Beijing confirms: Xi Jinping will visit South Korea while Trump is there

Today, October 24, Beijing confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to South Korea next week, marking his first visit in 11 years.

Xi will fly to the southeastern South Korean city of Gyeongju on October 30 to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, with the trip concluding on November 1. Seoul has already confirmed Xi’s state visit.

Notably, yesterday, Karoline Leavitt stated at a press conference that President Trump plans to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the summit.

After the meeting, Trump will return to Washington. The US president even noted that the issue of illegal fentanyl trafficking will be the "first topic" he discusses with his Chinese counterpart.

So far, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not commented on the meeting with the US president.

Trump and Xi have spoken at least three times this year, most recently in September, when the two leaders, among other things, reached an agreement regarding TikTok’s operations in the United States.

However, the last in-person meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies took place in 2019, during Trump’s first term as US president.

Earlier in October, Trump mentioned that he might meet with the Chinese leader.

But on October 10, Trump sharply criticized China, stating that Beijing was "sending letters to countries around the world declaring its intention to impose export controls on all elements of rare earth production," which Washington considers unacceptable.

At that time, the US president emphasized that there was "no need" for a meeting with Xi. Yet just a week later, Trump unexpectedly began praising the Chinese leader again and even personally expressed a desire to meet Xi in South Korea and "make a deal."