Bessent will meet China’s vice premier in Paris ahead of Trump’s visit to Beijing

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday and Monday in Paris for a new round of trade talks, the Treasury Department said, paving the way for President Donald Trump’s state visit to Beijing starting March 31.

The talks between He and Bessent are seen as preparatory work for the state visit that Beijing has not confirmed. The White House has said Trump is traveling to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, and it’s widely believed that the visit aims to keep relations stable between the world’s two largest economies.

“Thanks to the bonds of mutual respect between President Trump and President Xi, the trade and economic dialogue between the United States and China is moving forward,” Bessent said in a statement Thursday. “Under the guidance of President Trump, our team will continue to deliver results that put America’s farmers, workers, and businesses first.”

China’s commerce ministry confirmed He’s trip to France for talks with the U.S. and said Friday the two sides are set to discuss “trade and economic issues of mutual concern.”

However, the commerce ministry also hit back in a separate statement against the Trump administration’s new trade investigation into 16 trading partners including China, which Beijing warned would “seriously undermine the international economic and trade order.” The investigation could pave the way for new tariffs.

“China will closely monitor the situation and reserves the right to take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the commerce ministry’s statement said.

The new U.S. investigation came after a Supreme Court ruling struck down Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, which were imposed last year, already leading to lower tariffs for countries including China.

The talks between He and Bessent will be the “most important bilateral meeting before the Xi-Trump meeting,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist at French bank Natixis and a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies.

Trump’s visit to China will be the first for a U.S. president since he went in his first term in 2017. It will come five months after the two leaders met in the South Korean city of Busan and agreed to a one-year truce in a trade war that temporarily saw tit-for-tat tariffs soar to triple digits before the two sides climbed down.

The business community and analysts are expected to closely follow the talks between Bessent and He for clues of possible agreements when Trump meets Xi in Beijing, including whether China would purchase more U.S. products such as soybeans and airplanes and how the two sides would manage the trade imbalance.

Several days ago, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it would be a “big year” for China-U.S. relations. While he did not confirm the state visit, Wang said that “the agenda of high-level exchange is already on the table.”

“What the two sides need to do now is to make thorough preparations accordingly, create a suitable environment, manage the risks that do exist and remove unnecessary disruptions,” Wang said.

Bessent and He have led trade negotiations between the countries since last year, having met in Geneva, London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.