By Reuters November 21, 2020 | 09:08 am GMT+7 vnexpressA view show virtual APEC Economic Leaders Meeting 2020, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia November 20, 2020. Photo by Reuters/Lim Huey Teng.
Asia Pacific leaders set aside differences on Friday with their first joint communique in three years, calling for free and predictable trade amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Leaders of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), who included Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, U.S. President Donald Trump, China’s President Xi Jinping, also said they would not resort to protectionist policies.
Their joint statement, after a virtual summit hosted by Malaysia, is set against a backdrop of ongoing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.