I T IS THE start of the most important week of diplomacy for Donald Trump since he returned to office. A meeting between the American president and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is planned for October 30th and comes after Mr Trump’s whistlestop tour of many of his country’s most important Asian allies.

Top trade negotiators for the US and China said they came to terms on a range of contentious points, setting the table for leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to finalize a deal and ease trade tensions that have rattled global markets.

The U.S. and Chinese officials said that in addition to rare earths, they discussed trade expansion, the U.S. fentanyl crisis, U.S. port entrance fees and the transfer of TikTok to U.S. ownership control.

With a military purge in Beijing before a major political meeting this week some analysts ask: whom can leader Xi Jinping trust?

Xi Jinping seems to believe that only his continued rule can secure China’s rise. But as he ages, choosing a successor will become riskier and more difficult.

Trump will then travel to Japan where he's expected to sit down with Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. A political conservative, Takaichi is the country's first female leader. While the U.S. and Japan have already secured a trade deal, the two will highlight that aspect of the U.S.-Japan relationship.

President Trump met with the emir and prime minister of Qatar Saturday aboard Air Force One during a refueling stop.

Trump is scheduled to meet Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea, the White House confirmed last week. The high-stakes trade talks come as both leaders attempt to avoid further escalation in the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.