# Beijing again says it is in contact on a possible Xi–Trump–Putin meeting

Guo Jiakun repeated Monday's line on Tuesday. SBS, summarizing the Wall Street Journal, reported a clash over scripted versus open talks; China did not confirm that report.

By 567 Politics staff · 567politics
Published: 2026-11-09T13:48:39.093003Z
Updated: 2026-11-11T13:50:13.546715Z
Canonical: https://567politics.com/news/trump-xi-putin-apec-shenzhen-meeting-china-mfa-november-2026

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China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, November 9, that it "maintains communication with the relevant parties on the meeting between the three presidents," after U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in China next week. The remark came at the ministry's regular press briefing; the [official transcript](https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/fyrbt/202611/t20261109_12056171.html) is the primary source for Beijing's wording. "Well, I'm going to be going to China," Trump told reporters on Sunday, according to [Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/2026/11/09/donald-trump-plans-to-meet-vladimir-putin-and-xi-jinping-in-china-to-discuss-ending-iran-w), "and one of the meetings I think will be with President Putin and President Xi. That'll be interesting." He added: "We'll talk a lot of things, including denuclearization, but we'll be talking about a lot of things. We're trying to end the war in Iran." 

China is hosting this year's leaders' summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shenzhen on November 18–19, Euronews reported. The 21-member grouping includes the United States and Russia. ## Beijing's response, on the record

Asked by AFP at the briefing for details of the agenda, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said: "China maintains communication with the relevant parties on the meeting between the three presidents. As for your specific question, I have no information to offer at the moment," according to the ministry transcript. Asked by RIA Novosti about a Washington Post column reporting that the Trump administration had asked China to help end the conflict with Iran, Guo did not confirm the report. "To prolong the conflict between the U.S. and Iran does not serve the common interest of the parties concerned and the international community," he said. "Relevant parties should stick to peace, resolve disputes through dialog and negotiation, and restore peace and tranquility in the Middle East and Gulf region at an early date."

## Tuesday's restatement, and a reported format dispute

Guo was asked again on Tuesday, November 10, about a possible meeting of the three leaders. AFP cited a Wall Street Journal report on the format of talks and a nuclear-arms dispute. Guo's wording was almost the same as Monday's. "China is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state. As to your specific question, I have no information to offer at the moment," he said, according to the [official Tuesday transcript](https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/fyrbt/202611/t20261110_12056810.html). Monday's transcript had said China "maintains communication with the relevant parties on the meeting between the three presidents." The ministry still has not confirmed a date, an agenda, or even that the meeting will take place.

[SBS News](https://news.sbs.co.kr/english/article.do?news_id=N1008839505), summarizing a Wall Street Journal report dated November 9, said Washington and Beijing were at odds over whether the leaders should have an unscripted exchange. In that account, Trump wanted a setting for free-flowing discussion, while Xi wanted only pre-arranged statements, and the Journal said the format dispute could even cause a trilateral meeting to fall through. SBS also summarized a reported U.S. effort to draw China into nuclear-arms talks after Washington decided not to extend New START with Russia. Those points are attributed here to SBS's summary of the Journal. The Journal article itself was not fully opened for this update, and Guo did not confirm or deny the format report. This article does not repeat secondary figures on nuclear stockpiles or a quoted assessment from a former U.S. official that appeared in the SBS summary, because those claims were not checked against their original publications.

## What Moscow has said, second-hand

Euronews reported that the Kremlin said on October 21 that a trilateral meeting was "being prepared." It also cited a Wall Street Journal report that Putin wanted three-way talks to broker a Ukraine settlement favorable to Moscow. That Journal report was not independently opened for this article and is labeled as Euronews's citation. 567politics has separately covered [Abu Dhabi trilateral timing and Rubio's doubts](/news/ukraine-russia-us-abu-dhabi-trilateral-talks-timing-november-2026) on Ukraine tracks; those talks are not the same as a Shenzhen leaders' meeting. ## Analysts' views, attributed

"I think it will happen. The question is the format and the content," Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, told Euronews. "China wants the image but not the costs." Danny Russel, a former senior State Department official in the Obama administration, said: "Putin has the most to gain from a leaders' trilateral. The Russians are clearly behind the push for a meeting." Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said the meeting may amount to a photo opportunity and that "the spectacle may be historic without producing anything particularly consequential." These are opinions, not evidence that a meeting is locked in. ## Trade and chips as the backdrop

Euronews reported that Trump would be meeting Xi for the third time this year, amid a trade truce due to expire in January. At Monday's briefing, asked how China would respond if Washington tightened technology curbs after Democrats won control of Congress, Guo said China's position on U.S. chip exports "is consistent" and referred specific questions to "competent authorities." Asked about reports involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Guo said the "Chinese spy" allegation "is purely unsubstantiated and directed at smearing China," per the transcript. ## Taiwan at APEC

567politics has reported [Taiwan's protest over the terms of its APEC invitation](/news/taiwan-apec-shenzhen-invitation-protest-lin-chia-lung-november-2026). This article does not repeat that dispute in full. A leaders' trilateral, if it happens on the margins of APEC, would sit alongside the wider summit agenda; the MFA transcript does not confirm a format, guest list or Iran-war deliverable.

```diagram
type: timeline
title: Public statements on a possible Xi–Trump–Putin meeting
source: [PRC MFA transcript, Nov. 9](https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/fyrbt/202611/t20261109_12056171.html), [Euronews, Nov. 9](https://www.euronews.com/2026/11/09/donald-trump-plans-to-meet-vladimir-putin-and-xi-jinping-in-china-to-discuss-ending-iran-w)
---
2026-10-21: Kremlin says a trilateral is "being prepared" (per Euronews)
2026-11-08: Trump says he expects to meet Xi and Putin in China
2026-11-09: MFA says China is in communication, offers no details
2026-11-11: MFA announces Li Qiang's Thailand visit and ASEAN summit trip; Guo does not confirm a Xi-Takaichi meeting
2026-11-13: Li Qiang's official visit to Thailand scheduled to begin
2026-11-18: APEC leaders' summit opens in Shenzhen
2026-11-19: APEC leaders' summit scheduled end
```

## November 11: a pre-APEC itinerary, and no answer on Takaichi

On Wednesday, November 11, the [Chinese Foreign Ministry announced](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/wsrc/202611/t20261111_12057259.html) that Premier Li Qiang will visit Thailand from November 13 to 15, at the invitation of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and will then attend the 29th China-ASEAN summit in Manila on November 15 and 16, at the invitation of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The trip and Beijing's aims for it are reported in a [separate article](/news/china-li-qiang-thailand-asean-summit-apec-taiwan-november-2026). It is a pre-APEC tour by the premier, not a substitute for whatever leaders' meetings may or may not occur in Shenzhen.

At the same day's regular briefing, in the [official English transcript](https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng./xw/fyrbt/lxjzh/202611/t20261111_12057544.html), spokesperson Guo Jiakun was asked whether the Chinese leader was expected to meet Japanese Prime Minister [Sanae Takaichi](/politicians/sanae-takaichi) at APEC. He did not say yes or no. "As this year's APEC host, China earnestly fulfills its duties and stands ready to work with all parties for the full success of the APEC 'China Year.'" As to China-Japan relations, he said, "we have made clear our position more than once." That is a refusal to confirm a bilateral, not a confirmation and not an explicit cancellation.

Asked about Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's reported remark that he would tell the Chinese leader at APEC that China and other countries should not interfere in Canada's internal affairs, Guo said: "China upholds the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs. We have never had any interest in interfering in Canada's internal affairs." Carney's own wording was not opened in a Canadian primary text for this update.

## Iran war context on 567politics

Readers following the Iran conflict can see [Doha talks and Hormuz proposals](/news/iran-doha-talks-draft-proposal-hormuz-plan-november-2026) and midterms-related fallout stories on the site. Guo's November 9 line urged dialog without confirming that Washington asked Beijing to mediate. Absence of confirmation is not proof the request did or did not happen. ## Limits and primary gaps

No White House transcript of Trump's November 8 remarks was opened for this package; Trump's words are attributed via Euronews. AP's parallel story timed out when the drafting agent fetched it. The MFA transcript is complete for Guo's answers. China has no national public-opinion poll of the kind tracked on 567politics, so this article does not infer Chinese public views. A spectrum chart is not available for China under site rules; the [Communist Party profile](/parties/china/ccp) provides organizational context only. ## What would make the story move

Confirmation from all three governments of a time, place and format; a published agenda that includes Iran, Ukraine or nuclear arms; or an explicit denial. Until then, the accurate lead is that Trump says he expects a meeting, Beijing says it is in touch and offers no details, and analysts disagree on whether substance will follow the spectacle. World reactions to the U.S. midterms, including China stressing continuity, are covered in [a separate 567politics roundup](/news/world-reactions-democrats-win-midterms-sanchez-ramaphosa-iran-russia-japan-congress-powers-november-2026). ## Competing readings of a possible summit meeting

One reading, reflected in Trump's quoted remarks, is that a three-way meeting could advance an end to the Iran war and touch nuclear arms. Another reading, reflected in Guo's careful "no information" line, is that Beijing will not confirm logistics until it wants to. A third reading, from the analysts Euronews interviewed, splits between expecting a meeting that serves Russia's optics and expecting a photo opportunity without durable bargains. None of those readings is proven by Monday's record. The only primary Chinese text in hand is the MFA transcript. Euronews supplies Trump's words and the analyst quotes. 567politics's [Iran talks coverage](/news/iran-doha-talks-draft-proposal-hormuz-plan-november-2026) and [midterms world-reaction piece](/news/world-reactions-democrats-win-midterms-sanchez-ramaphosa-iran-russia-japan-congress-powers-november-2026) give wider context. If a White House or Kremlin transcript appears, this story should be updated with those primary words rather than leaving the chain of attribution as it stands. Shenzhen's role is geographic and diplomatic: it is the APEC host city for the leaders' days. Hosting APEC does not by itself schedule a Xi–Trump–Putin session; only the governments can do that. Taiwan's separate invitation dispute remains covered in its [own article](/news/taiwan-apec-shenzhen-invitation-protest-lin-chia-lung-november-2026). PNG's office closure and the MFA's one-China comments the same day are recorded in the MFA transcript but are not the focus of this trilateral story. Taiwan's MOFA release is the primary text for Taipei's account, and no PNG government statement was found for this package. ## Checklist before calling the meeting "set"

1. A matching confirmation from Beijing, Washington and Moscow, not only one capital's optimism. 2. A published time and venue (APEC margin versus a standalone bilateral-plus). 3. An agenda item list that goes beyond "many things."
4. Any readout after the fact that can be checked against the pre-meeting spin. Until those exist, headlines should keep the conditional wording this article uses. ## Why denuclearization talk is easy to over-read

Trump linked the possible meeting to "denuclearization" and to ending the Iran war in the same breath, per Euronews. Those are separate diplomatic tracks. A photo of three leaders does not freeze Iranian centrifuges or Russian warheads. Guo's answer on Iran stressed dialog and regional calm without accepting the mediator role the Washington Post column described. Treating the MFA line as a soft yes, or as a soft no, goes beyond the transcript. The disciplined reading is: contact acknowledged, agenda undisclosed. APEC itself remains an economic forum. Security topics on the margins are common and still informal unless states announce them. Readers should separate the Shenzhen APEC host role from any ad hoc trilateral bolted onto it. ## Midterms, Congress and tech curbs

Guo's refusal to game out Democratic control of Congress on chip policy fits Beijing's usual line that its position is "consistent" and that specifics belong to other agencies. The [world reactions story](/news/world-reactions-democrats-win-midterms-sanchez-ramaphosa-iran-russia-japan-congress-powers-november-2026) explains what a Democratic Congress can and cannot change on trade and war powers. That official backdrop matters for any Trump–Xi encounter: campaign talk about deals still has to clear domestic U.S. politics after the midterms. If the trilateral happens, reporters should ask whether Iran, Ukraine, export controls or Taiwan produce any written understanding. If it does not happen, Trump's November 8 optimism will stand as an unfulfilled expectation rather than a scheduled event that fell apart. Until primary schedules and White House/Kremlin texts appear, 567politics will keep conditional wording and will not upgrade the meeting from possible to planned. 

Guo spoke in careful terms. He did not confirm a date. He did not confirm an agenda. He did not confirm a format. Those gaps matter more than any single optimistic quote from Washington.


Reporters should keep asking for matching confirmations. One capital's optimism is not a schedule. Beijing's short answer on November 9 left the door open and the calendar blank. That remains the accurate status until a readout changes it.


A meeting can still be arranged after APEC week. It can also fade. The only safe claim after Guo's November 9 and November 11 briefings is the one the transcripts support: contact on a possible trilateral has been acknowledged, no date or agenda has been confirmed, and a Xi-Takaichi meeting has not been confirmed either. Everything else is still speculation dressed as schedule.