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BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA – OCTOBER 30: US President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Force Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea.
Andrew Harnick | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that Beijing and Washington should be “partners and friends” as the two leaders met for a photo at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, ahead of their meeting on trade and tariffs.
For the first time, the two leaders meet in person since Trump began his second term in January.
Trump said both sides have already agreed on many things and will “agree on some more now,” according to Reuters.
In a separate statement released by China’s Foreign Ministry, Xi said it was “normal for the world’s two leading economies to have friction from time to time,” while urging the two countries to work together and “ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship” of bilateral relations.
The high-stakes meeting comes as tensions between the world’s two largest economies boil over this year. The latest escalation of tensions came this month with Beijing export control and Washington threatens to ban exports of Chinese-powered software.
In recent days, the U.S. has shared details of deals it hopes to strike with China, from curbing the flow of fentanyl to the U.S. to splitting TikTok from Beijing-based parent company ByteDance. Tariffs, technological restrictions and rare earth elements are also on the table for discussion.
Beijing was more cautious about the prospects for a deal, but in a possible sign of thawing relations, China bought its first cargoes of U.S. soybeans in months, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
“Although the meeting itself is not about peace, (Xi) is mostly trying to create an atmosphere conducive to a deal,” said Tianchen Xu, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Xi is in South Korea – his first state visit in 11 years – from Thursday to Saturday until attended the meeting of economic leaders of ATIS in Gyeongju.
Investors are cautiously watching headlines from Busan as the US-China trade war keeps investors on edge. Global markets jumped at the start of the week on growing optimism that the US and China could be nearing a trade deal.
