With Donald Trump's imminent return to the U.S. presidency looming over the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that unilateralism and protectionism needed to be rejected in favour of economic globalization.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called competition with China a top concern as President Biden hands the reins to President-elect Trump. He said the meeting takes place during a “critical moment between the US and China” and will “ensure that we don’t run into any problems in the next two months in this transition of power.”

As leaders from across the world gather for two major summits in South America in the coming days, the uncertainty brought by Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House is expected to loom large.