Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on July 11, 2014, that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing this November would provide a "natural" environment for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet on the sidelines. He added that it is highly unusual for the leaders of the two countries not to meet for so long after taking office. Abe became prime minister in December 2012, and Xi assumed the presidency in March 2013.