Abe likely to hold talks with Xi in Vietnam on Saturday

November 9, 2017

DA NANG, VIETNAM- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the fringe of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit, to be held in Vietnam for two days from Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday.

Tokyo and Beijing are working to arrange the bilateral summit for Saturday, Japanese government sources said.

Abe is also expected to hold a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in the central Vietnam city of Da Nang.

After the trip to Vietnam, Abe will travel to the Philippines on Sunday to take part in a series of summit talks related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He will return home on Wednesday.

At a press conference Thursday morning, Suga said the prime minister is slated to hold meetings with Putin, Xi and other leaders during the Southeast Asian tour.

Abe is set to lead the discussions at the string of bilateral and multilateral summits as Japan aims to help promote free trade and economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, Suga stressed. Jiji Press