Overview
- The 21 APEC economies adopted the Gyeongju Declaration reaffirming open trade and investment and restating support for the Putrajaya 2040 vision.
- Leaders released statements urging coordinated responses to AI-driven disruption and cooperation on aging populations and low birth rates, with the agenda also highlighting cultural industries through an address by BTS leader RM.
- A Trump–Xi bilateral days earlier produced a temporary de-escalation of their trade dispute, and Trump departed before the summit, leaving Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to represent the United States.
- Xi Jinping cast China as a defender of free trade and supply-chain stability and held talks with counterparts including Japan and Canada, which agreed to deepen ties and address trade frictions.
- Seoul said Xi would meet President Lee Jae-myung to discuss denuclearization of North Korea, a proposal North Korea publicly rejected as unrealistic.