Bessent and He meet again to tackle ‘some unfinished business’ as Xi summit nears

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held an unscheduled meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Washington on Wednesday, hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to arrive for a state visit.“We had some unfinished business from Sunday. We want strategic stability, but it has to be based on reciprocity and fairness,” Bessent told Fox News on his way to the meeting.The talks are under way at the World Bank headquarters in the US capital, following the two leaders’ engagement on Sunday at JPMorgan’s offices in New York.After eight hours of negotiations in New York last week, the two sides agreed to launch a dialogue on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and operationalise a bilateral trade body. Sunday’s meeting was also attended by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.The meeting comes as Washington and Beijing continue to wrangle over extending the Busan trade agreement, while uncertainty remains over the presence of Chinese businesses in Xi’s delegation.The China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday that differences between Washington and Beijing over potential investment announcements are creating roadblocks for a Chinese business delegation expected to accompany Xi.A source familiar with the discussions said Washington and Beijing had yet to resolve their disagreements over the Board of Investment, particularly over possible Chinese investments in the US, adding to uncertainty over the delegation’s participation.