GYEONGJU, South Korea (Reuters) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday the Asia-Pacific region was at a critical inflection point with a rapidly changing global economic order, as he chaired a leaders’ summit in the city of Gyeongju.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping, a non-binding 21-member forum.

The APEC region accounts for 50% of global trade and 61% of GDP, and this year’s meeting follows Xi’s high-profile meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to find a trade war truce on the sidelines of the gathering in South Korea.

“It is clear we cannot always be on the same side, but we must work together to achieve common prosperity,” Lee said.

“As the free

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