China, US to hold trade talks in Seoul ahead of Trump-Xi summit

 BEIJING: Senior Chinese and US officials will hold talks in South Korea in the coming days, Beijing’s commerce ministry and Washington’s treasury secretary said Sunday, ahead of an expected summit between leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

The Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement that vice premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s top economic official, will attend “consultations on mutual economic and trade issues” in South Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X: “On Wednesday, I will stop in Seoul for a discussion with Vice Premier He Lifeng of China before continuing on to Beijing for the Leaders’ Summit between President Trump and President Xi.”

Trump is set to visit China for a high-stakes summit with Xi, with the leaders of the world’s top two economies expected to focus on easing tensions over trade and Taiwan, with the war in the Middle East looming in the background.

While Washington and Beijing slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s exports a year ago, Trump and Xi agreed on a year-long trade truce at their October meeting in South Korea.

He and Bessent have been the chief negotiators for China and the US on all trade and economic issues.

The talks are likely to put the finishing touches on any announcements to be made during the Trump-Xi summit.

Bessent said he would have prior talks in Tokyo on Tuesday with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and finance minister Satsuki Katayama, along with other public and private-sector representatives.

“Economic security is national security, and I look forward to a productive series of engagements as we work to advance President Trump’s America First Economic Agenda,” Bessent said.