U.S. President Donald Trump appealed directly to China's Xi Jinping to free jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai when the two leaders met in South Korea last week, according to three people briefed on the talks and a U.

Xi Jinping is not known for his easy smiles. China’s most powerful Communist leader in decades has built a reputation reinforced by state media during his 12-year rule as a serious and steady hand.

Trump claimed the meeting was “amazing” and a “12” on a scale of 1-10, but experts have said Xi successfully leveraged China’s rare earths advantage.

The images, captured during the US-China summit in South Korea, have gone viral, revealing a side of Xi that most Chinese citizens have never seen.

After Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in South Korea on Oct. 30, China released a statement on the outcomes of the landmark summit while US officials made public remarks.

President Trump said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping "agreed to almost everything" in their nearly two-hour meeting in South Korea, which Trump said was "friendly."

Great pleasure to see you again,” Xi told Trump as they shook hands ahead of opening remarks at a South Korean air base after nearly a year of tit-for-tat tariff and trade escalations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not usually associated with an ecstatic smile. That is because the country's government, along with the state media, has worked hard to build a reputation of seriousness.

Chinese leader meets Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing just days after his summit with US President Donald Trump.