WASHINGTON: United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says on Saturday (Oct 18) that he and China's Vice Premier He Lifeng are likely to hold talks in Malaysia in a week's time as part of efforts to set the stage for a meeting between their respective countries' presidents, Kyodo News Agency reported.
Amid renewed trade tensions before President Donald Trump's anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping late this month in South Korea, Bessent said he had spoken online with He.
Bessent wrote on social media that their discussions regarding trade between the United States and China were "frank and detailed".
"We will meet in-person next week to continue our discussions," he said.
China's state-run news agency Xinhua also reported on the video call, saying it was "constructive" and they agreed to hold another round of high-level economic and trade talks as soon as possible.
Before the call, Bessent said his team and a Chinese delegation led by He would "meet in Malaysia probably a week from tomorrow to prepare for the two presidents to meet."
Malaysia is hosting this year's Asean summits starting Oct 26, which Trump is expected to attend before travelling to Japan and South Korea.
Since March, Bessent and He, a trusted economic aide to Xi, have spearheaded multiple rounds of trade talks in European cities to defuse bilateral tensions.
"I think that things have de-escalated," Bessent said at the outset of Trump's lunch meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"We hope that China will show the respect that we have shown them, and I am confident that President Trump, because of his relationship with President Xi, will be able to get things back on a good course," Bessent said.
Trump reiterated that he plans to hold one-on-one talks with Xi when the two travel to South Korea for an Asia-Pacific economic summit at the end of this month.
"We're talking and I think we'll make a deal that will be good for both. I think we will do something," Trump said.
In response to China's announcement of new export controls on rare earth minerals, Trump threatened last week to impose a 100% additional tariff on Chinese imports, resulting in a flare-up of trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has yet to meet Xi in person.
Trump has set Nov 1 as a possible date for the additional tariff to go into effect. – Bernama-Kyodo
