By Eduardo Baptista

GYEONGJU, South Korea (Reuters) – U.S. participation at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum this week in South Korea has been “very strong and robust”, U.S. Senior Official to APEC Casey Mace said on Friday.

Mace made the comment at a briefing on the sidelines of the gathering after being asked about why U.S. President Donald Trump had left South Korea before the start of the leaders’ summit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who held talks with Trump on Thursday to seal a U.S.-China trade deal, is expected to stay until the forum’s conclusion, having addressed APEC leaders on Friday.

“Schedules don’t always align, and in the case of this week, they didn’t align perfectly to allow for President Trump to stay for all of the events,” said Mace.

Hours after

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