FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng shake hands during trade talks at OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) headquarters in Paris, France, March 16, 2026.
The U.s. Treasury | Via Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday he had a successful meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. this week.
The talks covered artificial intelligence and trade, among other issues ahead of Trump and Xi’s Sept. 24 summit in Washington, D.C.
Bessent, emerging from the meeting alongside U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, said the two sides had discussed setting up a “U.S.-China AI Dialogue,” with the U.S. proposing the two countries set up a notification mechanism for incidents regarding AI.
The notification mechanism would be for incidents rising “up to a national security level from AI,” he said.
“We think that just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important,” he said.
Bessent’s meeting with He also comes amid intensifying debate in Washington over the safety of AI and national security as the U.S. and China compete for technological leadership. The Trump administration has favored voluntary and national-security-focused safeguards over broad mandatory rules for AI developers. The issue is expected to be part of discussions between Xi and Trump during the Chinese president’s visit.
Top AI executives have recently warned that the technology could quickly become out of control and poses sweeping new threats. They urged Washington to set guardrails and regulations on the industry, something Trump himself has derided.
Greer said the U.S. and China have “operationalized” the U.S.-China Board of Trade, to help facilitate trade negotiations by finding a “critical mass of goods” that could be considered separately “when and if there are trade measures” in the future.
Those goods could be “consumer goods, low-tech items” from the Chinese side and “energy products, agricultural goods, potentially medical devices” on the U.S. side, Greer said.
The meeting comes before Xi’s high-stakes visit to Washington this week, his first during Trump’s second term. Trump visited Beijing earlier this year amid escalating tensions between the world’s largest economies.
CNBC reported Friday that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Citigroup chief Jane Fraser are expected at a state dinner during Xi’s visit. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang are also set to attend.
The summit in Washington is expected to include high-stakes economic dialogue as the U.S. and China remain locked in competition.
Beyond AI, the summit is likely to broach other issues such as trade and tariffs. A key part of the current U.S.-China trade truce — Washington’s suspension of heightened reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports — is scheduled to expire Nov. 10.
The current truce includes Chinese commitments on rare-earth exports and U.S. agricultural purchases, while the Trump administration reduced some tariffs and suspended higher reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods.
