Scott Bessent calls China talks on AI, trade very successful ahead of Trump-Xi summit

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat down with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on September 20 and walked away calling the meeting “very successful.” The talks covered a dense agenda: AI safety, trade policy, investment frameworks, and the increasingly strategic question of who controls the world’s critical minerals. All of it is prelude to the main event, a summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping scheduled for September 24. What the two sides actually discussed The AI portion of the conversation centered on guardrails. Specifically, both sides discussed frameworks for open-weight and closed-weight AI models designed to prevent advanced systems from ending up in the hands of malign actors. The two sides agreed to schedule a dedicated follow-up dialogue on AI after the summit. Critical minerals also featured prominently. China dominates the global supply of rare-earth elements. The US and China agreed on preparatory discussions around critical mineral governance, a topic that carries enormous weight for technology supply chains worldwide. Chinese officials described the discussions as constructive. The trade truce ticking clock Hovering over all of this...