Overview
- Leaders adopted the APEC Leaders’ Gyeongju Declaration and issued separate outcome statements on AI governance and responses to demographic change.
- South Korea handed the chairmanship to Xi Jinping, who announced Shenzhen as the 2026 host and positioned China as a defender of open trade.
- President Trump and President Xi agreed to de‑escalate their trade dispute, including lower tariffs and resumed U.S. soybean purchases with continued rare earths flows, though verification and tech carve‑outs remain unresolved.
- In talks after the summit, President Lee asked Xi to help revive dialogue with North Korea; Seoul said Xi pledged continued efforts as Pyongyang derided denuclearisation as a “pipedream.”
- This year’s declaration avoided explicit references to multilateralism or the WTO, highlighting strains in the global trade framework even as leaders affirmed the value of robust trade and investment.