APEC summit week in Gyeongju began on the 27th. At this meeting, being held in Korea for the first time in 20 years since the 2005 APEC summit in Busan, the 21 member economies must seek solutions to a turbulent global trade environment and future challenges. Global attention is also set to focus on the major diplomatic stage in Korea where key leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, will engage.
The theme of this year's APEC summit is "A sustainable tomorrow we create: consolidation, innovation, prosperity." The Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting (CSOM) starts on the same day. As the chair, Korea plans to share with participating economies the status of summit preparations and the progress of discussions on the key outcomes being pursued at this year's APEC summit, including "cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI)" and "responses to demographic change."
The CSOM results will be reported to the APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) on the 29th–30th. The AMM is a ministerial-level meeting that serves as a final check right before the APEC summit. Foreign and trade Ministers from APEC's 21 member economies are expected to attend. Session 1 will discuss responses to regional challenges through digital cooperation, and Session 2 will address ways to strengthen regional supply chains using new technologies.
Once the CSOM and AMM conclude, the summit's plenary will begin on the 31st. During the summit, which runs through the 1st of next month, all member economies will, by consensus, produce what is being called the "Gyeongju Declaration." In line with the theme of "consolidation, innovation, prosperity," it is expected to include an intent to pursue stronger connectivity through physical, institutional, and people-to-people exchanges within the Asia-Pacific even amid rising global uncertainty, and to promote digital innovation to drive shared prosperity.
The plenary will be divided into Sessions 1 and 2. Session 1, on the 31st, will discuss cooperation measures to boost trade and investment under the theme "Toward a more consolidated and resilient world." Session 2, on the 1st, will take up the agenda "An Asia-Pacific vision prepared for future change," addressing ways to create new growth engines in the Asia-Pacific amid trends such as AI advancement and demographic change.
From the 28th to the 31st, the APEC CEO Summit will be held, hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KORCHAM). More than 1,700 businesspeople and economic leaders will take part, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Zeng Yuqun, chair of CATL, China's top battery maker. Lee Jae-myung, the president, will join as a special speaker on the 29th, and Trump is also expected to deliver a keynote address at the APEC CEO luncheon on the 29th, his first day in Korea.
APEC week is also expected to feature an extra-large diplomatic stage. During this period, Korea-U.S., U.S.-China, Korea-China, and Korea-Japan summits will be held in succession. Trump will make a state visit from the 29th for 2 Days & 1 Night, and Xi Jinping will make a state visit from the 30th for two nights and three days. It will be the first simultaneous state visits by the U.S. and Chinese leaders. In particular, attention is on whether the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations can be finalized at the Korea-U.S. summit on the 29th. At the Korea-China summit, sensitive agenda items such as the Taiwan issue, structures in the Yellow Sea, and domestic anti-China and hate-China protests are expected to be on the table.
The U.S.-China summit on the 30th is expected to draw global attention. It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders since the start of Trump's second term. With the two countries engaged in a trade war, attention is on whether they can lower tensions and reach agreement at this summit. Narae Maru, the reception hall inside the Air Force base at Gimhae Airport in Busan, is said to be the leading candidate as the venue for the U.S.-China summit.