Xi Jinping Set to Hold First Meetings with New Leaders of Canada and Japan After Trade Truce with US

Oct 2025 : Chinese President Xi Jinping was set to meet the newly elected prime ministers of Canada and Japan on Friday, a day after he and US President Donald Trump agreed to halt their escalating trade war. The meetings took place in Busan, South Korea, where Trump announced a reduction in US tariffs, while Xi committed to maintaining rare-earth mineral exports and increasing soybean purchases.

While Trump returned to Washington, Xi stayed on for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. One of his key engagements was a highly anticipated first meeting with Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi — the first woman to lead the country. Known previously for her hardline positions, including visits to the contentious Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japan’s war dead, Takaichi has softened her rhetoric since assuming office.

In her inaugural policy speech last week, she warned that growing military activities by China, North Korea, and Russia posed “grave concern” to Japan’s security. She also announced that Japan’s defense spending would reach two percent of its GDP this fiscal year — two years ahead of the original target. Beijing swiftly criticized the move, saying it raised doubts about Japan’s adherence to a defensive military posture and its commitment to peaceful development.

During Trump’s visit to Japan en route to Busan, Takaichi stood beside the US president aboard a US aircraft carrier, declaring that Japan faced “unprecedented” security challenges. Japanese media reported that in her meeting with Xi, she was expected to raise concerns over China’s assertive actions around the Senkaku Islands — known in China as the Diaoyu Islands — and urge the release of Japanese nationals detained in China. Ensuring the safety of Japanese citizens living in China was also expected to be on her agenda.

Xi was also slated to meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for the first time since Carney’s election in April. It would mark the first formal bilateral meeting between Chinese and Canadian leaders since 2017. Relations between the two nations deteriorated sharply in 2018 following Canada’s arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US extradition request, which Beijing answered with the detention of two Canadian citizens on espionage charges.

Tensions have since deepened, exacerbated by Trump’s global tariff offensives. In July, Canada imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on steel imports containing Chinese-melted steel. A month later, China announced a temporary customs duty of 75.8 percent on Canadian canola imports after a preliminary investigation alleged dumping. Canada, one of the world’s largest canola producers, relies heavily on exports of the crop for cooking oil, animal feed, and biodiesel production.

Speaking at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week, Carney said he planned to discuss both commercial ties and “the evolution of the global system” during his meeting with Xi, signaling an attempt to stabilize relations amid ongoing geopolitical and economic tensions.