LIMA, Peru (AP) — Leaders of Pacific Rim countries including the United States and China gathered Friday in Peru for a Economic cooperation in Asia and the Pacific meeting, the first major global summit since US President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.

The annual gathering brings together 21 economies that together stand for almost two-thirds of global GDP and half the world’s trade, according to the organizers.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden joined Chinese President Xi Jinping, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and others as the world wonders how a new US administration could change global dynamics.

Leaders and other representatives will hold closed discussions in the morning, after a welcome speech by Peru President Dina Boluarte which focused on the need to promote inclusive growth and reduce informal labor in APEC economies.

“Our goal is to level the playing field and provide all the necessary tools for inclusion in social, financial and commercial spaces,” Boluarte said. “We firmly believe that growth starts with inclusion and that this is only possible through the empowerment of citizens who are the engine of our economies.”

Biden held meetings with Asian partners

APEC is will be one of Biden’s last global summits before they leave the office, and White House officials insist that his presence as well as his subsequent visit to Brazil for the Group of 20 meeting next week will be significant, with talks to focus on climate issues, global infrastructure, counter-narcotics efforts. The officials say Biden will also use the summits to press allies to maintain support for Ukraine as it tries to stave off Russia’s invasion and insists on negotiating an end to Israel’s war in Lebanon and Gaza.

For the first time since last year’s APEC forum, Biden will meet one-on-one Chinese President Xi on Saturday. He met with Peru’s Boluarte early Friday afternoon, and later with South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan’s Shigeru Ishiba.

Biden praised the cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States to counter what he described as North Korea’s “dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia.” He celebrated the partnership between Japan and South Korea, two countries that have historic enmity but which, under the Biden presidency, are now tightening security and economic ties as their corner of the world grows more complicated.

“This will likely be my last trilateral meeting with this important group. But I am proud to have helped to be one of the parts in building this partnership, and I believe it is built to last. It is my hope and anticipation. I truly believe that the cooperation between our countries will be the foundation of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region for many years to come,” Biden said.

Through a translator, Ishiba echoed the sentiment: “I look forward to advancing our partnership in response to North Korea and in many other areas.”

Xi has claimed the limelight at APEC

Still, analysts said Biden may be overshadowed at APEC by Xiwho on Thursday evening began his visit by inaugurating one $1.3 billion megaport it is perhaps the clearest sign of Latin America’s ongoing reorientation in the region.

Xi also met with Yoon on Friday. The Chinese leader appealed for neighborliness and cultural togetherness and called for closer ties including both high-level and people-to-people contacts, according to China’s state broadcaster CGTN. Xi told Yoon that the two countries should cooperate to protect the international free trade system and ensure the stability of global supply chains, as Beijing prepares for the Trump administration. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 60 percent on Chinese goods.

Beijing announced on November 1 that South Korean citizens can travel to China visa-free for up to 15 days, a move seen as countering the US-Japan-South Korea alliance.

Xi also held bilateral talks on Friday with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, according to CGTN. On Thursday, he sat down privately with Boluarte.

Arguing for multilateralism

Canada’s Trudeau raised questions about an incoming Trump administration at the APEC CEO summit, recalling the last time Trump took office and vowed to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement. Instead, he said, the nations worked hard to find ways to create new termsknown as the US-Mexico-Canada agreement, which served as evidence trading could be beneficial to all parties.

“It wasn’t easy. And nothing will be easy this time, Trudeau said. “Little secret: There is no American administration that is automatically easy for a Canadian government. They are taking a very robust look at their own interests and Canada is adapting.”

Similarly, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used his 10-minute speech to argue for more robust engagement with the world. In front of an audience seemingly drained by the long day of speeches, he joked: “I realize I’m the only one standing between most of you and a Pisco sour” – Peru’s national cocktail.

While not mentioning Trump by name — nor his protectionist “America First” doctrine — Blinken offered a spirited defense of the Biden administration’s focus on reviving global relations.

Around the world, we have reshaped, energized, revitalized, strengthened and woven together our alliances and partnerships to seek to advance an increasingly shared vision for the future, he said.

He said Washington had in recent years increased its involvement in multilateral organizations such as APEC, saying such forums “are incredibly important. They concentrate minds.”

Discontent and demonstrations outside the APEC conference

Outside Lima’s convention center, where APEC is held, there are metal barriers and police outfitted in riot gear around the perimeter. For the past two days, anti-government protesters angered by the recent spate of gang-driven violence have chanted slogans demanding that their very unpopular president take action against the crime wave.

The meetings have turned into clashes with the police, who used batons to drive away the more aggressive protesters on Thursday. As APEC leaders gathered on Friday, a few dozen protesters were stopped by security barricades several blocks from the convention center. Heavily outwitted by riot police, they chanted against government corruption and denounced Boluarte for the death of tens of protesters in the wake of her predecessor’s departure.

“Why would we want APEC here when the investment will only line their pockets?” Maria Melendez, a 48-year-old tour guide said of corrupt government officials. “We’re hungry and they’re over there talking about billions of dollars. How is that going to help us?”

Mia Rivera, 58, held a portrait of the ousted president, Pedro Castillo, and said she was discouraged by the low turnout. She said the heavy police presence and the memory of the violent crackdown on protesters in 2022 discouraged many of her friends from marching this week.

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Associated Press writers Aamer Medhani in Lima and Didi Tang in Washington contributed.