South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday hosted a welcome dinner banquet for visiting leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken center stage at the summit that began Friday in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, as U.S. President Donald Trump left the country a day earlier after reaching deals with Xi meant to ease their escalating trade war.

This year’s two-day APEC summit has been heavily overshadowed by the Trump-Xi meeting that was arranged on the sidelines.

Established in 1989 during a period of increased globalization, APEC champions free and open trade and investment to accelerate regional economic integration.

But the APEC region now faces challenges like strategic competitions between the U.S. and China, supply chain vulnerabilities, aging populations and the impact of AI on jobs.