China’s Xi likely to skip Asean leaders’ October summit, sources say

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping is unlikely to attend a major summit of Asian leaders in October, two people familiar with the matter said, dashing expectations of a potential meeting with US President Donald Trump at the event.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had said in August that both Mr Xi and Mr Trump

were expected to attend

the Asean leaders’ summit on Oct 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur. That led analysts to speculate that Mr Trump and Mr Xi, locked in an uneasy trade truce, may have their first in-person encounter of Mr Trump’s second term.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who attended another Asean summit with Gulf leaders in May, is expected to represent China at the October meeting, two regional sources said, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Datuk Seri Anwar told Malaysia’s Parliament in July that Mr Trump had confirmed his attendance at the event during a phone call with him.

Mr Trump said earlier in August he will meet Mr Xi before the end of 2025 if a trade agreement is struck, adding that “we’re getting very close to a deal”.

Aides for both presidents have discussed a possible autumn meeting in Asia around the time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in South Korea on Oct 30 to Nov 1, Reuters previously reported.

The annual Asean summit would mark Mr Trump’s first trip to South-east Asia since his 2019 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. He is also expected to attend the Apec summit.

It is rare for Chinese presidents to attend Asean summits, with Mr Xi only having joined a 2021 special summit virtually since he gained power in 2012. Attendance by US presidents is also uncommon. Mr Trump attended in 2017, while then President Joe Biden joined Mr Xi remotely in 2021. Mr Biden also attended the summit in person in Cambodia the following year.

Mr Anwar said the 2025 summit would aim to deliver “Asean’s largest and most high-profile gathering of world leaders to date”, with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa also expected to attend.

Washington and Beijing

have extended a tariff truce

for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other’s goods while negotiations continue to address the trade imbalance, market access and rare earths, among other issues.

Mr Trump’s global tariffs offensive has shaken South-east Asia, a region heavily reliant on exports and manufacturing and in many areas boosted by supply chain shifts from China.

Washington announced tariffs of about 19 per cent across major South-east Asian economies’ exports earlier in August, far lower than previously threatened, after the White House explicitly warned regional countries against so-called transshipment of Chinese goods to the United States. REUTERS