Chinese President Xi Jinping could attend ASEAN Summit in October, joining Trump and other leaders: Anwar

If both Xi and Trump attend, it would raise the prospect of a highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders in Southeast Asia, amid strained Sino-US ties over trade, technology and security.

The most recent in-person meeting between Xi and Trump took place in Osaka in 2019 during the G20 Summit. The last time Xi met a sitting US president in person was in November 2024, when he met then-US President Joe Biden at the APEC Summit in Peru. 

Anwar had earlier announced on Jul 31 that Trump would attend the ASEAN summit. He said Trump had confirmed his attendance in a phone call. 

According to local media, Anwar had extended invitations to both Xi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang to attend the ASEAN Summit during his official visit to China last November.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have not commented on Xi’s potential attendance at the regional summit, and state media have not reported on it.

Following Anwar’s remarks on Friday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan later told reporters that Xi’s participation was still a “possibility”, reported local news site The Sun.

The last time a Chinese president attended an ASEAN-related summit in person was in 1997, when Jiang Zemin attended the first China-ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Xi’s most recent participation in an ASEAN-related event was in 2021, when he virtually attended and chaired an ASEAN-China special summit to mark the 30th anniversary of bilateral dialogue relations.

China typically sends its premier to attend ASEAN-related meetings, a point analysts previously noted to CNA.