As the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping approaches, trade negotiators from both countries met again in Washington to finalize key agenda items.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Vesent announced on social media platform X on September 23 that he had met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. During their meeting, they engaged in substantive discussions regarding U.S.-China economic relations, focusing on securing specific agreements that would protect U.S. economic and national security interests, as well as safeguard American workers, farmers, and businesses.
This meeting marks the second time the two countries' lead negotiators have met separately ahead of the summit, following their discussions in New York on September 20. The latest talks took place at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., with Bloomberg reporting that the two officials met for over an hour.
He Lifeng was accompanied by Li Chenggang, China's chief trade negotiator, and Liao Min, deputy minister of finance. The two sides appeared to exchange final opinions on trade and economic issues to be discussed at the summit.
Vesent mentioned that this year could see a total of four meetings between the U.S. and Chinese leaders. Following the Washington summit on September 24, there are potential meetings at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, in November, and the G20 summit in Florida, USA, in December.
On September 20, Vesent indicated that the Chinese side had proposed a broader framework for an agreement, suggesting the possibility of extending the existing trade truce for another year while also considering new major agreements. However, it remains uncertain whether a significant agreement will emerge from the upcoming summit, as both countries still exhibit differences on issues such as tariffs, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence. The focus of the meeting may shift towards managing existing conflicts and maintaining negotiation momentum rather than achieving concrete resolutions.
Meanwhile, President Xi arrived in Washington on the afternoon of September 24 and is scheduled to meet with President Trump at the White House. As the economic leaders continue negotiations right up to the summit, there is keen interest in the level of agreement that may be reached.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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