Washington, 23 Oct 2025 (Anadolu/APEC)

Turkish official News Agency Anadolu reported today that US President Donald Trump will sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week as he wraps up a nearly one-week tour of Asia, the White House confirmed Thursday.

Trump will meet with Xi on Thursday morning on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the South Korean port city of Busan, according to spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.

Trump later told reporters that the illicit flow of fentanyl would top the agenda for the bilateral meeting, suggesting that Beijing wants "to do something" to address the issue.

"The first question I'm going to be asking them about is fentanyl," he said in remarks to reporters at the White House. "If you think about it, they make $100 million, think of this, they make $100 million selling fentanyl into our country. They lose $100 billion with the 20% tariff. So, it's not a good business proposition."

The US president is slated to arrive Sunday in Malaysia and will meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim before attending an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders working dinner. He will then fly to Tokyo on Monday and meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday.

Trump will fly to Busan on Wednesday, where he will meet with President Lee Jae Myung before delivering remarks at the APEC CEO luncheon and will attend a US-APEC leaders working dinner that evening.

From October 27th to November 1st, 2025, Gyeongju, South Korea will host the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, convening the forum’s 21 member economies. This gathering is viewed as a pivotal moment for the region to navigate ongoing global economic uncertainty.

The meetings will be guided by Korea’s host year theme, “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper.” The significance of APEC as a vital dialogue platform was highlighted by the announced meeting between the leaders of the United States and China. According to Eduardo Pedrosa of the APEC Secretariat, this demonstrates the forum's value, further evidenced by its ability to forge consensus on complex issues such as trade.

Preceded by meetings of ministerial and senior officials, the week caps a year of policy work. With regional trade growth moderation, officials like Carlos Kuriyama emphasize that sustaining momentum requires reducing policy uncertainty. The Leaders’ Meeting is seen as a critical opportunity to deepen cooperation on structural reforms—from digital skills to AI—and to advance the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 for more inclusive and resilient growth.

Chinese official news agency XINHUA reported today that Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead a delegation to Malaysia from Oct. 24 to 27 to hold economic and trade consultations with the U.S. side, China's Ministry of Commerce announced Thursday.

The two sides will hold consultations on important issues in China-U.S. economic and trade ties in accordance with the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries during their phone calls this year, a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.