Bessent meets with Chinese counterpart ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Washington — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday, ahead of the planned summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. 

“In New York City, Vice Premier He Lifeng and I are continuing our discussions on the U.S.-China economic and trade relationship ahead of @POTUS’ historic summit with President Xi in Washington,” Bessent said in a post on X. “These talks help lay the groundwork for President Trump to advance America’s economic interests and deliver results for the American people.”

Bessent and He, who oversees China’s economy, are meeting at JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters in Manhattan on Sunday for the talks, which are expected to set the table for the two presidents’ highly anticipated meeting later this week. U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer was also expected to join the talks. In a statement ahead of the meeting, Greer said the U.S. and China are “deepening their engagement to facilitate mutually beneficial trade between the two largest economies in the world.”

“The Trump administration will continue to pursue balanced trade with China by monitoring the implementation of recent commitments, optimizing trade in non-sensitive goods, and improving market access for American farmers, manufacturers, and workers,” Greer said.

Heading into the meeting Sunday morning, Bessent told reporters that he looked forward to “focused, fulsome and constructive” talks.

Mr. Trump is set to welcome Xi to the White House on Thursday for a summit and state dinner, which will mark the second time this year that the two leaders have met face to face following their meeting in Beijing in May. Xi last visited the White House in 2015.

Looming large over the meeting will likely be artificial intelligence, after some industry leaders called for imposing safeguards on the industry earlier this month. The leaders are also expected to address an expiring trade agreement between the two countries, along with discussions around critical minerals. 

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California said on Sunday that an agreement on AI “needs to be the first agenda item on the Trump-Xi Jinping summit” to set “basic standards.”

“That should include international monitoring; it should include checks through the data centers, where you can tell whether a model is being used for inference or training,” Khanna said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “And it should use enforceable and verifiable tools.”