The Sinoamerican Presidential tete a tete in the midst of commercial turbulence between the two economic giants, is officially on, as Beijing has confirmed that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will indeed hold talks tomorrow on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea.
'They will be discussing bilateral relations and issues of common interest',' the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement which confirmed the high level meeting, more than a week after it was announced by the White House and reiterated in press remarks by the American President.
Beijing had not responded to the US administration's public disclosure of the meeting, taking place during a critical juncture, as the two countries are flirting on the brink of all out commercial war again and are struggling to reach compromises, with negotiations continuing at technocratic level.
Russian natural gas is also straining bilareral relations, as China is Moscow's top energy buyer and Trump has encouraged Beijing to refrain from purchasing 'Ukraine war' energy after imposing heavy sanctions on conglomerates Rosneft and Lukoil last week.
China has reduced the amount it is procuring from Russia following the measures announced by US Finance Minister Bessett, but Putin and Jinping are strong allies and it seems unlikely that ties will be significantly affected, as the countries have also deepened defence cooperation.
The Ukrainian President has encouraged Trump to exert pressure on the Chinese regarding the energy front in light of the Jinping summit.