Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meets Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng: Why this US-China AI Dialogue ahead of the Trump-Xi summit?

Ahead of this week’s summit between Donald Trump and XI Jinping, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the formal launch of a new US-China AI Dialogue mechanism after hailing an eight-hour discussion with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Sunday that US and Chinese officials have talked about developing a new "notification mechanism" for AI incidents that might have an impact on national security. The meeting came around when US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is about to meet later this week. Though this meeting of two top officials of both countries sounds like an ‘AI threat discussion’ but behind this name of US-China AI Dialogue mechanism, it seems a crucial pre-negotiation and diplomatic scaffolding meeting in New York, intended to secure concrete economic and security deliverables prior to the forthcoming summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Washington.

US-China is in the economic friction surrounded with artificial intelligence cooperation and tariff adjustments and it will be very interesting to keep eye on this summit to see how both the leaders Trump and Jinping will negotiate over this economic friction and benefit from this.

After speaking with He Lifeng, Bessent stated in an interview that the development of the AI dialog system was a significant step in lowering the risks associated with the quickly developing technology. Bessent said “The most important thing is just to start talking and so we have set up the AI Dialogue. We will likely meet again in two months; we think that, just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important.”

China's response to the US proposal was unclear; a statement from the state news agency Xinhua just acknowledged that both sides discussed artificial intelligence. The officials had "frank, in-depth, and constructive exchanges on key economic and trade issues," including putting agreements made in previous rounds of trade and investment consultations into practice, according to Xinhua. But according to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer explained that US export restrictions on advanced AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment were not on the table for the AI mechanism discussions.

On the other hand Vice Premier He and China’s chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang left the JPMorgan Chase office without addressing the media. In May, this year President Trump and Xi met in Beijing to explore possible consultations on AI research, but the forum was never planned.

As it seems that China has an upper hand in this discussion, The Silicon Review asks: If China will use their stance on AI to gain leverage in broader trade deal with US?

Q: Why Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meeting?

A: From September 23 to September 25, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a crucial three-day official state visit to Washington, D.C. The leaders are trying to finalize a reciprocal tariff-reduction arrangement managed by a new "Board of Trade".

Q: What is this US-China AI Dialogue mechanism?

A: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng have proposed a bilateral communication framework called the US-China AI Dialogue, which aims to move the world's two leading artificial intelligence powers from operational opacity to strategic transparency regarding frontier technology risks.

Q: How could China benefit from Washington summit?

A: By gaining crucial tariff relief on $30 billion worth of non-sensitive consumer goods through the Board of Trade mechanism.

Q: What is the US trying to gain from this Washington summit?

A: The main reasons the US is attending the summit in Washington are to further its economic objectives, safeguard essential manufacturing supply lines, and create critical geopolitical and national security barriers in the face of home challenges.

Q: Why the US-China AI Dialogue seems controversial?

A: Though this meeting of two top officials of both countries sounds like an ‘AI threat discussion’ but behind this name of US-China AI Dialogue mechanism, it seems a crucial pre-negotiation and diplomatic scaffolding meeting in New York, intended to secure concrete economic and security deliverables prior to the forthcoming summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Washington.

Q: What possible conclusion can be drawn from the Washington summit?

A: Analysts predict that rather than a broad fundamental change in the relationship, the Washington summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will result in "managed competition" and tactical stability.