Bloomberg reports that U.S. President Barack Obama and China's Xi Jinping stressed at a meeting the importance of continued stable relations between the world's two biggest economies at a time the Chinese leader described as a "hinge moment" following the election of Donald Trump. Obama and Xi acknowledged "the uniquely consequential nature of U.S.-China relations" and the need to forge a more stable and productive bilateral relationship, the White House said in a statement after the two presidents met at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima. Relations with Beijing seem likely to be shaken up when President-elect Trump takes the reins in January. The Republican blames China for taking U.S. jobs, and has said he will instruct his Treasury secretary to label the country a currency manipulator...Obama and Xi discussed areas of disagreement at the pair's ninth meeting, including human rights, state-sponsored hacking and territorial and maritime disputes involving China, according to a White House statement released after the meeting.

Bloomberg writes that China is moving swiftly after Donald Trump's U.S. election win to claim the mantle of the world's champion of free trade and the fight against climate change -- a role reversal that appeared barely imaginable just a month ago. President Xi Jinping told leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru on Saturday that he aimed to boost global trade and provide a level playing field for foreign companies. Days earlier, Beijing indirectly chided Trump for his views on global warming, which the president-elect has called a Chinese hoax to hurt U.S. manufacturing. Xi's remarks show China is wasting no time in appealing to emerging economies wary of a more protectionist America under Trump, who opposes the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and has pledged to scrap the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. Both were key foreign-policy priorities of President Barack Obama's administration.Still, it remains to be seen how China might develop a greater leadership role on the two issues and profit from a retreating America under Trump.