WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent lauds “very successful” talks with his Chinese counterparts that spanned artificial intelligence (AI), trade and investment ahead of this week’s summit between leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
Bessent, speaking to reporters after hours of talks in New York with China’s vice-premier He Lifeng and other officials, said the two sides agreed to set up a dialogue on AI aimed at reaching a common understanding on goals and threats.
They plan to meet again, with top Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang saying the talks were held in a good atmosphere and a working group would continue discussions later yesterday.
“The United States has proposed we have a notification mechanism between the two countries, and we want a shared vision of common goals and common threats,” Bessent said, adding that it would be called the “United States-China AI dialogue”.
Later this week, Trump is scheduled to host Xi at the White House.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the two sides are “preparing the groundwork” for a successful meeting between leaders of the world’s biggest economies, noting that the two sides “operationalised” a Board of Trade that can “create a kind of ballast for the relationship”. — Bloomberg
