Trump and Xi land in Busan for highly anticipated meeting over trade

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday arrived in Busan, South Korea, ahead of a much-anticipated meeting to address trade and tariff concerns.

The meeting, expected to start at 11 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET, Wednesday), would be the first time the two leaders see each other in person since Trump began his second term in January. 

The high-stakes meeting comes as tensions between the world’s two largest economies have been on the boil this year. The latest escalation in tensions came this month, with Beijing  export controls and Washington threatening to ban software-powered exports to China. 

The U.S. in recent days has shared details about deals they hope to achieve with China – from restricting the flow of fentanyl to the U.S. to TikTok’s divestiture from its Beijing-based parent ByteDance. Tariffs, tech curbs and rare earths are also on the table for discussion.

Beijing had been more circumspect about the prospects of an agreement, but in a possible sign of thawing relationship, China bought its first cargoes of U.S. soybeans in several months, Reuters reported Wednesday. 

Xi is in South Korea – his first state visit in 11 years – from Thursday to Saturday to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju.

Investors are cautiously watching for headlines from Busan as the trade war between the U.S. and China has kept investors on edge. Global markets soared at the start of the week on growing optimism that the U.S. and China could near an agreement on trade.