US Proposes AI Safety Alerts as China Talks Open

US and Chinese trade teams met in New York as Washington proposed an AI safety notification mechanism for Trump and Xi's summit.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng led Beijing's delegation into economic and trade talks on Sunday with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who headed the US side, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Guided by consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state, the teams exchanged views on major issues of common concern and on implementing earlier agreements, according to a Xinhua report carried by China's State Council Information Office. The meeting took place at JPMorgan Chase headquarters in New York, where He and chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang left without speaking to media, Reuters reported via The Detroit News.

Reuters reports that Bessent told reporters the two sides discussed setting up a US-China AI dialogue, including a notification system for AI-related incidents that rise to a national security level, which the US side proposed for President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping to consider at their summit this week. Bessent said moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and number two AI powers is very important. Xinhua's readout only briefly acknowledged that both sides spoke about AI, and the Chinese response to the proposal was unclear.

China's Ministry of Commerce statement, cited by China Daily, confirmed the two sides held candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges, discussed AI-related issues and addressed implementation of points of consensus from previous rounds. China's Foreign Ministry declined to elaborate on Tuesday, with spokesperson Guo Jiakun referring questions on the consultations and AI governance to competent authorities, while saying China believes all parties should promote the open and inclusive development of AI for the good of all, according to Global Times. The US-China Business Council, China Daily reports, supports formal channels to discuss AI safety, policy consultation and standards alignment.

The Asia Group's George Chen told Reuters that the fact both sides agreed to continue the dialogue is significant, with future sessions expected to tackle more sensitive topics such as AI weaponization, safety principles and cyber-attack prevention, though he noted cooperation prospects remain limited by low trust. Officials framed Sunday's talks as groundwork for a successful Trump-Xi summit.

Beyond AI, the teams worked to operationalize a process agreed in May under which each side would identify potential tariff cuts on non-strategic goods, called the Board of Trade. Greer said he wants a relatively small subset of American and Chinese goods traded in a balanced way, with consumer goods and low-tech items possible candidates from China and energy, agricultural goods and medical devices from the US side, The Detroit News reports. Unresolved issues linger: no updates were offered on China's pledged agricultural purchases or Boeing orders, and Reuters notes no progress was mentioned on critical minerals flows.

Attention now shifts to the Trump-Xi summit planned for Thursday and Friday in Washington, which Greer said Sunday's discussions were meant to prepare. China's Ministry of Commerce said He would also lead a delegation of Chinese companies to the US for consultations ahead of the meeting, a mirror of the US CEO group Trump brought to Beijing in May, Reuters reported. Beijing is meanwhile deepening regional trade infrastructure: CNA reports the new Pinglu Canal in Guangxi opened September 16, cutting more than 560km off the river journey to sea and targeting at least 5 million tonnes of cargo in 2026, per its operator.