The 21 leaders from economies bordering the Pacific, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, descended on Peru this week at a time when America’s incoming president, Donald Trump, has vowed to withdraw the U.S. from its leadership of a global free trade agenda.

President Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping met on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru. (Credit: Reuters)

President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, closed the book on their diplomatic relationship Saturday, meeting for a final time amid uncertainty over what the next Donald Trump presidency might portend for their two countries’ ties.

After two days of meetings in Lima that rarely ventured beyond platitudes in discussing the strategies of the region’s major economies, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum wrapped up on Saturday with a spirit of detente that many fear the summit may not see again for four years.

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping arrived in Peru Thursday for an Asia-Pacific summit where they will likely meet for the last time under a cloud of diplomatic uncertainty cast by Donald Trump's election victory.