Lee, Xi hold phone talks: China urges South Korea to deepen ties, uphold multilateralism; says 'stable relationship aligns with trend of times'

Chinese President Xi Jinping in a phone call with new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday urged to collaborate with Beijing to defend multilateralism, and to uphold free trade, said state media.

According to Xinhua, Xi called on Lee urging Beijing and Seoul to "inject more certainty into regional and international situations", also to "promote strategic cooperative partnership to a higher level"."A healthy, stable, and continuously deepening China–South Korea relationship aligns with the trend of the times," Xi said."Close bilateral cooperation and multilateral coordination should be maintained to jointly uphold multilateralism and free trade, ensuring the stability and smooth functioning of global and regional industrial and supply chains," the Chinese premier added.Lee, a centre-left leader earlier this month won the presidency in a landslide after snap elections were called following his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol’s disastrous decision to impose martial law, leading to his impeachment. Seoul has long walked a diplomatic tight rope maintaining a delicate balance between its top trading partner, China, and its security ally, the United States.Bilateral relations between Beijing and Seoul suffered a downturn under Yoon, who aligned closely with the United States and sought to improve ties with former colonial master Japan.

But Trump's tariff blitz has provided a new impetus to both export driven economies to improve their equation who now find themselves at crosshairs of American duties.Additionally Lee suggested during his campaign that he would work to enhance relations with Beijing. And went on to ring alarm bells saying that any future conflict between China and Taiwan would not be South Korea’s concern.