Trump and Xi Meet at White House Focusing on AI and Chips

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on the 24th of this month, with artificial intelligence (AI) expected to be a key point of discussion. AI has become the focal point of the emerging technology race, and the gaps and areas for cooperation between the two nations in fields such as chips, computing power platforms, and data governance directly impact future economic and defense security. Since the US imposed restrictions on high-end chip exports to China, companies in Wall Street and Silicon Valley have repeatedly called on the government to provide clearer policy frameworks to avoid disruptions in the technology supply chain. If this summit can reach consensus on issues such as AI governance standards, technology transfer, and market access, it will help ease the bilateral tensions that have escalated in recent years due to trade, military, and human rights issues.

Ahead of the summit, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has arranged to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend. He Lifeng has served as vice premier since 2023, overseeing macroeconomic and financial policies, and possesses a deep understanding of China's promotion of high-tech industrial upgrading and international capital flows. Bessent's main tasks for this trip include discussing risk prevention in financial regulation, cross-border capital flows, and AI-related investments, as well as assessing China's capital demands in the AI industry and the participation of US investors. The meeting between the two high-ranking officials not only paves the way for the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting but also demonstrates that the US still hopes to reduce policy uncertainty through dialogue at the economic level.

The strategic significance of AI lies in its cross-domain applications: from military command systems and smart manufacturing to financial risk control and medical diagnosis, it has the potential to reshape industrial structures and the international competitive landscape. Over the past few years, the US has accelerated the formulation of AI ethical guidelines and invested massive research and development funds; meanwhile, China has used the "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" as a blueprint, striving to catch up with or even surpass the US in core algorithms and data infrastructure. If the two countries can find common ground in standard setting, data privacy, and algorithmic transparency, it will set an example for global technology governance; conversely, if they fall into a zero-sum game, it could lead to technological fragmentation, supply chain fractures, and further exacerbate geopolitical confrontation.

From a historical perspective, the meeting between Trump and Xi marks the highest-level formal dialogue between the two sides since the peak of trade frictions in 2019. Although the negotiations at that time failed to completely lift tariffs, they left room for subsequent agricultural and energy cooperation. Refocusing on AI this time indicates that the two countries have elevated technological competition to a strategic level, while also reflecting internal US anxieties regarding its leading position in AI and electoral political considerations. The US faces the 2024 presidential election, and candidates' stances on China's technological rise will become a focus of voter attention; meanwhile, under its "dual circulation" policy, China emphasizes the two-way complementarity of internal innovation and external markets, hoping to secure more favorable conditions for technological cooperation in international negotiations.

Overall, the Trump-Xi meeting and the preparatory talks between Bessent and He Lifeng will test the foundation of mutual trust between the two countries in the AI field in the short term and may lay the framework for future trade, investment, and security agreements. If both sides can establish transparent communication mechanisms and risk management agreements while maintaining competition, it will help prevent the tech race from escalating into full-scale confrontation and provide a more stable environment for global AI development. Conversely, if the negotiations deadlock, it could accelerate technological decoupling, impacting global supply chains and the innovation ecosystem. The outcome of the talks in the coming weeks will serve as a key indicator for observing the trajectory of US-China relations and will influence the layout of global technology governance.