(MENAFN- Live Mint) Chinese President Xi Jinping was expected to meet Canada's Mark Carney and Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for the first time on Friday (Oct 31), a day after agreeing to a trade deal with US President Donald Trump.

The meeting will be held in South Korea on Friday amid the annual gathering of Pacific Rim leaders.

Why is Xi-Takaichi meetings important?

1. According to Japanese media, Takaichi was expected to convey to Xi grave concerns over China's behaviour, including around the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands by China.

2. She was also expected to press for the early release of Japanese citizens detained in China and request that the safety of Japanese expatriates in China be ensured, the reports said.

3. According to AFP, Takaichi is seen as a China hawk, but since being elected, she has toned down her remarks.

4. In her first policy address last Friday, Takaichi declared that the military activities of China, North Korea and Russia "have become a grave concern".

5. She announced that Japan would be spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence this fiscal year -- two years ahead of schedule.

China had then responded by saying that there were "serious doubts among [Japan's] Asian neighbours and the international community about whether Japan is truly committed to an exclusively defensive posture and the path of peaceful development".

Carney talks on cards amid tariff war: 6 points

1. Xi Jinping is also expected to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney - their first meeting since the Liberal leader's election in April and the first formal visit between the leaders of Canada and China since 2017.

2. Relations between Beijing and Ottawa fell into a deep freeze in 2018 after the arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US warrant in Vancouver and Beijing's retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges.

3. The economic and political relations between China and Canada have strained further, even as both countries are targeted by US President Donald Trump's tariff.

4. Under the leadership of Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau, Canadians were detained and executed by the Chinese government and Canada's security authorities concluded that China interfered in at least two federal elections. Xi also publicly scolded Trudeau, alleging he leaked their discussions to the press.

5. In July, Carney announced an additional 25 percent tariff on steel imports that contain steel melted and poured in China. Canada also said it would levy a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles

6. Beijing announced the following month it would start imposing a temporary customs duty of 75.8 percent on Canadian canola imports. Canada is among the world's top producers of canola, an oilseed crop that is used to make cooking oil, animal meal and biodiesel fuel.

Thai PM Anutin Charnvirakul to meet Xi

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is also due to meet Xi in the afternoon, Bangkok said, fresh from signing an enhanced ceasefire deal with neighbouring Cambodia on Sunday overseen by Trump.

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