Chile cancels APEC trade summit, climate gathering as Santiago burns

Chile withdrew on Wednesday as the host of an APEC summit next month at which the United States and China had been expected to sign a deal to ease trade tensions hurting the global economy, as raging street protests gripped the South American country.

The abrupt move - which came after weeks of riots over inequality in Chile that have left at least 18 people dead - left the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in disarray, with participating countries caught off-guard and no alternative venue lined up.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, fighting for his political survival, said he had taken the "painful" decision to cancel the summit, as well as a high-profile international gathering on climate change in December, to focus on restoring law and order and pushing through a new social plan. "As President to all Chileans I must always put the problems and interests of Chileans, their needs, their desires and their hopes, first," he said in a brief statement at the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago.

The APEC summit was scheduled to bring together 20 world leaders on Nov. 16-17. U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had been due to sign an interim agreement to end the 15-month-old trade war.

The cancellation might deny the two leaders a chance to meet on neutral soil soon but the Trump administration said it still expects to sign the deal with China next month. A White House official told Reuters that Chile's cancellation of the trade summit had caught the administration by surprise.

The Chilean president did not mention a possible alternative venue for the APEC summit.

Violent riots have left large parts of Santiago shut down, with the metro transport system suffering nearly $400 million in damage. A total 7,000 people have been arrested and Chilean businesses hit with losses of around $1.4 billion.