APEC leaders call for shared trade benefits

Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasized the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC Summit on Saturday.

- 

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit, hosted by South Korea this year, unfolded under the shadow of rising geopolitical tensions and aggressive economic strategies-ranging from US tariffs to China's export controls - that have pressured global trade.

President Marcos (right) joins Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, Papua New Guinea Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso, Russian Deputy Prime Minister for International Affairs Alexei Overchuk, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Peru Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Teresa Mera, Mexican Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrard and Taiwan Senior Advisor Lin Hsin-i for a group photo during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea yesterday.

Ahead of the gathering, US President Donald Trump announced trade deals with a number of countries, including China and South Korea. But he left before the summit kicked off.