China and the United States held their inaugural dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI) amid escalating tensions over the strategic and economic implications of the technology. The talks took place in New York on Sunday, with China’s Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leading their respective delegations, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. The dialogue marked the first formal engagement between the two countries on AI, a sector seen as critical in future global competition.
The meeting followed ongoing concerns in Washington about China’s efforts to advance its AI capabilities despite US export restrictions on advanced AI chips. American officials have accused Chinese developers of using “distillation” techniques to replicate sophisticated AI models, an allegation rejected by Beijing as baseless. China warned of retaliatory measures if the US leveraged such claims as a pretext to suppress its technology sector.
During the talks, both sides exchanged “candid, in-depth and constructive” views on economic and trade issues tied to AI development and broader technological competition. They reached several agreements and also extended a trade truce originally established in Busan, South Korea, in October last year. Bessent reported that China proposed a more comprehensive trade deal as part of the discussions. An unscheduled meeting between He and Bessent was also held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington earlier this week.
The dialogue comes ahead of a planned meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington, where AI and technology governance are expected to be prominent agenda items. Ahead of this summit, Zheng Yongnian, a senior policy adviser and political scientist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, urged both nations to avoid an AI “cold war.” Zheng highlighted the difficulty of decoupling the two countries’ AI industries fully and emphasized the need for cooperation to manage the risks posed by rapid AI advancements.
Zheng noted that while nuclear weapons have been subject to international oversight, AI is evolving swiftly in a largely unregulated environment, posing profound challenges. He warned that neither the United States nor China could address these risks alone and advocated for a joint international framework to govern AI development and deployment.
Despite shared concerns, the US and China have diverging visions for the future of AI. The United States favors a high-cost AI model focused on advanced economies and has prioritized securing semiconductor and critical mineral supply chains through initiatives like the Pax Silica program. In contrast, China promotes an open-source, mass-market approach aimed at providing affordable AI technology to developing countries across the Global South.
Zheng acknowledged the ongoing rivalry but rejected the notion of a strict bipolar divide, highlighting continued engagement between the two powers as a potentially stabilizing factor. He pointed to a “low level of political trust” as the main obstacle to cooperation but suggested the forthcoming summit could help address this issue. Given the significant interdependency, particularly through Chinese tech talent and China's economic influence, Zheng asserted that effective global AI regulations must be underpinned by the technological strength of leading nations like China and the United States.