The White House confirmed on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his upcoming visit to Asia next week, easing uncertainty surrounding the meeting sparked by heightened trade hostilities between Washington and Beijing.
Speaking to reporters, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt detailed that President Trump will depart for Malaysia late Friday before attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, where the meeting with Xi will take place next Thursday. Trump’s itinerary also includes stops in Japan and South Korea.
According to official statements, the president will arrive in Malaysia on Sunday, meeting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and joining a working dinner with fellow ASEAN leaders. He is set to continue to Tokyo on Monday for talks with Japan’s recently appointed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, following which he will travel to South Korea on Wednesday. There, he will engage in discussions with President Lee Jae Myung and deliver keynote remarks to corporate leaders attending the APEC forum.
The bilateral engagement with President Xi comes amid escalating U.S.-China trade frictions, which intensified significantly after Beijing imposed new restrictions on rare-earth mineral exports in early October—a move that quickly elicited threats of tariffs and additional punitive measures from Trump. Despite these tensions, the U.S. president has recently signaled cautious optimism regarding a potential trade agreement with China, as reported by the White House.
Meanwhile, Suphajee Suthumpun, Thailand’s Minister of Commerce, is set to represent the country at two major regional gatherings from late October through early November 2025. She will participate in the 26th ASEAN Economic Community Council and the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur from October 24–28. Subsequently, Suphajee will travel to Gyeongju, South Korea, to join both the APEC Ministerial Meeting and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, alongside Thailand’s Prime Minister, from October 29 to November 1. Her participation aims to advance Thailand’s economic, trade, and investment interests on the global stage amid mounting geopolitical pressures influencing international commerce.
