China's He Lifeng Meets South Korea's Lee Jae Myung Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · May 13
China's He Lifeng Meets South Korea's Lee Jae Myung Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
8 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 13
Seoul hosted Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for talks with President Lee Jae Myung ahead of He's planned meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The meeting was framed as part of preparations for a long-awaited summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, leaders of the world's 2 biggest economies.
Lee was expected to discuss a broad agenda with He, including the upcoming US-China summit and ways to preserve stability on the Korean Peninsula and across Asia.
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Seoul at the Crossroads: South Korea’s Strategic Role in US-China Diplomacy Ahead of the 2026 Trump-Xi Summit
Overview
China's Vice Premier He Lifeng is leading a key diplomatic visit to South Korea just before the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing. This visit is strategically timed and centers on a high-level meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Seoul. Their talks represent a final round of negotiations between the US and China, aiming to secure important agreements ahead of the presidential summit. This sequence of events highlights Seoul's growing role as a venue for US-China diplomacy and shows how last-minute discussions could shape the outcomes of the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting.