US, Chinese officials meet before summit

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on Sunday before this week’s high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Bessent said he was looking forward to “focused, fulsome, and constructive talks” with He that would “set the stage” for Trump and Xi’s meeting on Thursday, which is expected to cover tariffs, rare earth minerals, and AI.
With concerns over AI safety mounting, American tech leaders, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, are expected to attend Xi’s White House dinner.
One analyst wrote the meetings will likely produce limited deals, as “neither [side] has much ambition for path-breaking arrangements and compromises” amid “great power competition tempered by interdependence.”

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