Bessent to meet China’s He Lifeng ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend ahead of a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month. 

Bessent announced the meeting while testifying before the House Financial Services Committee about the international financial system.

Bessent said he looks forward to discussing sanctions connected to the war in Iran, as the US increases economic pressure on Tehran. The conflict has also helped push up borrowing costs and consumer prices globally. 

The 10-year US Treasury yield recently reached its highest level in almost two decades during a bond selloff driven by heavy capital investment and rising energy prices.

Speaking outside the hearing, Bessent said the rise in Treasury yields was largely due to higher oil prices and predicted that oil costs would eventually fall.

The talks come as competition over artificial intelligence becomes a central source of tension between Washington and Beijing. Bessent has repeatedly argued that the US must preserve its lead in AI. 

During the hearing, he said it matters whether “the good guys or the bad guys” develop superintelligence first and described himself as a key manager of the US-China relationship on AI.

Three US national security agencies recently accused Chinese AI firms including Alibaba and DeepSeek of systematically extracting proprietary knowledge from American companies. 

Beijing rejected the allegations as baseless and criticized calls from Anthropic and OpenAI for a slowdown in advanced-model development as fearmongering.

Trump’s meeting with Xi is scheduled for Sept. 24 in Washington, although Beijing has not officially confirmed the visit. Bessent did not specify where or when he would meet He. The two officials have typically met before US-China summits to prepare the leaders’ discussions.

The House hearing was interrupted by anti-war protesters, with at least five people removed by security. Protesters called for an end to sanctions on Iran and accused Bessent of responsibility for civilian suffering.