Overview
- Xi will receive Lee starting Sunday, with a Beijing summit Monday and a Shanghai stop Tuesday, in their second meeting in two months ahead of Lee’s planned trip to Japan.
- Talks will target practical cooperation on critical minerals, supply-chain investments, the digital economy, green industries, environment and climate, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, and responses to transnational crime.
- Seoul will ask Beijing to help restart dialogue with Pyongyang even as North Korea has derided Lee’s outreach and China and North Korea display closer coordination.
- The visit unfolds as the U.S. maintains about 28,500 troops in South Korea and moves to make that force more flexible for wider regional contingencies, according to U.S. military officials.
- Economic stakes include South Korea’s reliance on Chinese rare earths and chip markets, Huawei’s stated plan to introduce Ascend 950 AI chips in Korea next year, and a business delegation that includes SM Entertainment.