When U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met during the APEC 2025 Summit in Busan, South Korea, they entered the room carrying years of accumulated friction. The meeting was their first face-to-face encounter in six years, and it took place against a backdrop of economic rivalry, tariff battles, and a shifting global order. What emerged from the talks was not a breakthrough, but a calculated pause. The two leaders chose a ceasefire that cools tempers, steadies markets, and resets the terms of competition without resolving its causes.
