(reuters)1. (PART MUTE) CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING TALKING WITH VIETNAMESE PRESIDENT NGUYEN XUAN PHUC BEFORE LAST RETREAT SESSION BEGINS / XI GREETING MANAGING DIRECTOR OF IMF KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA AND THAI PRIME MINISTER PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA / XI WALKING TO HIS SEAT 2. (MUTE) PRAYUTH WRITING 3. AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE ARRIVING AND TAKING HIS SEAT 4. BRUNEI SULTAN HASSANAL BOLKIAH SEATED 5. XI ARRANGING PAPERS ON TABLE 6. APEC RETREAT SESSION IN PROGRESS 7. PRAYUTH SPEAKING 8. U.S. VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS SEATED 9. SINGAPORE’S PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG ADJUSTING EARPHONES 10. ALBANESE SEATED 11. PHUC AND GEORGIEVA SEATED 12. BOLKIAH SEATED 13. XI SEATED NEXT TO HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE JOHN LEE 14. TAIWAN REPRESENTATIVE MORRIS CHANG LISTENING 15. JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER FUMIO KISHIDA LISTENING 16. SOUTH KOREAN PRIME MINISTER HAN DUCK-SOO LISTENING 17. GEORGIEVA LISTENING 18. VARIOUS OF PRAYUTH SPEAKING AT MEETING 19. RETREAT IN
PROGRESS STORY: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders participated in the last retreat of the regional summit on Saturday (November 19), pledging to boost trade and do more to tackle other economic challenges. Leaders of the 21-member bloc in their declaration at the end of a two-day summit in Bangkok also said they recognized that more intensive efforts were needed to address such challenges as rising inflation, food security, climate change and natural disasters. The APEC gathering is the third summit in the region in the past week. A Southeast Asian summit that included China, Japan and the United States was held in Cambodia while the Group of 20 (G20) nations met on the Indonesian island of Bali. The earlier meetings were dominated by the war in Ukraine as well as tensions over Taiwan and the Korean peninsula. A North Korea missile launch on Saturday(November 19) also brought condemnation and calls for calm.
