U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping while leaving after a visit to the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China, May 15, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

China’s President Xi Jinping, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. File photo
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. and Chinese economic officials discussed creating a communication channel for AI concerns at meetings on Sunday (September 20, 2026) as they set the stage for a summit of the countries’ top leaders this week.

The talks come as both powers confront rising fears that increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems could wipe out humanity, offering a rare incentive for cooperation despite an intensifying race for technological supremacy.

“We just had a very successful engagement with the Chinese on trade and AI,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters after long talks with a team led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The talks are a prelude to a planned White House meeting on Thursday (September 24) of the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies: U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The discussions, which also included the top U.S. trade official Jamieson Greer, lasted around eight hours at JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters in New York.

Mr. Bessant said the two sides discussed setting up a way to communicate about AI issues called the “U.S.-China AI dialogue.” “The U.S. has proposed that we have a notification mechanism between the two countries,” Mr. Bessent said.

Such notifications are for potential “incidents,” or a situation “that rises up to a national security level from AI,” he said, adding that both sides have agreed to meet again.

Mr. Bessent and Donald Trump also spoke one-on-one during the day, a source familiar with the matter said.

Chinese state media described the meetings as “candid, in-depth, and constructive” on Monday (September 21).

“The two sides engaged in discussions on key economic and trade issues of mutual interest, such as implementing the consensus from previous consultations and promoting bilateral trade and investment,” Xinhua news agency said in a brief readout.

Chinese and U.S. officials also held a dialogue on “issues related to AI”, Xinhua added, without giving any further details.

Chinese official Li Chenggang, who was elevated to a top-level international trade representative post shortly before the meetings, was present in the New York talks too. But the Chinese delegation did not address reporters.

Mr. Greer stressed on Sunday (September 20) it is “imperative that we are able to work together.”

Both sides are looking to ease tensions on trade, technology and other strategic concerns. These include the possible extension of a trade truce and guardrails for AI development.

Non-sensitive trade

Asked about the possibility of mutual tariff reduction on certain goods, Mr. Greer said teams “are continuing to work through this.”

The aim is to identify “non-sensitive” goods that can be considered separately from trade measures in the future, he added.

Such products could include consumer goods from the Chinese side and energy, agricultural, and other products, such as medical devices, on the U.S. side.

Beyond less sensitive items, U.S. officials are also seeking to ensure the continued flow of rare earth magnets and critical minerals that are vital for U.S. manufacturers.

Working level meetings could continue into Monday (September 21), a source familiar with discussions earlier told AFP.

Previous negotiations saw China pledge purchases of U.S. agriculture goods too, and their fulfilment of the terms could also be an issue under scrutiny.

Another issue is U.S. economic pressure on Iran, as Washington’s war with Tehran has entered its seventh month.

China is a top economic partner of Iran that buys much of its oil output and a key diplomatic backer.

Analysts caution that expectations for the Trump-Xi summit are low.

“One of the only things we can hope for in the short term is a truce, and that this will likely continue through the remainder of this year,” said former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

“I think you will hear the President announce the intention to meet with Xi Jinping two more times,” added Mr. Campbell, who is now chairman of The Asia Group consultancy.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi are expected to meet in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shenzhen, China. Mr. Trump is also anticipated to invite Mr. Xi to the G20 summit in December at his Doral resort in Miami.

Published – September 21, 2026 09:32 am IST

Tibetan community members stage a protest march against the visit of China’s President Xi Jinping for the BRICS Summit 2026, in New Delhi on September 11, 2026
| Photo Credit: PTI

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s much-anticipated visit to New Delhi this week, his first to India in seven years, should further the diplomatic thaw between the giant neighbours, but there are few signs as yet that ​their business ties will improve.

Businesses in both countries continue to face hurdles, including investments stalled by regulations, visa delays and restrictions on industrial equipment, underlining the gap between ‌diplomatic progress and economic ties, analysts say.

While Mr. Xi is widely expected to be in Delhi this weekend for the annual ​BRICS summit, Beijing is yet to confirm his visit, and there is no word if he will have a ⁠meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be crucial to set the future direction of bilateral ties.

Also Read | Eyes on Xi visit, ‘early harvest’ as Doval heads to Beijing

China and India fought a brief war in 1962, setting the backdrop for a wary relationship since then, which soured after a 2020 border skirmish killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. Still, ties have improved in recent years, ‌especially since Mr. Modi visited China last year and as both nations grapple with volatile relationships with the U.S.

“China certainly wants to improve ties, but we are waiting to see to what extent India is actually willing to improve them,” said Lin Minwang, a ‌South Asia expert with Shanghai’s Fudan University and former diplomat at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, suggesting that any dramatic progress was unlikely.

Harsh ‌Pant, ⁠vice-president at New Delhi’s Observer Research Foundation think tank, said the “trust deficit” between the countries was high.

“China has ⁠economic heft and there is a good opportunity to use that and emerge as a reliable partner, especially when both nations are impacted by America’s trade policies,” he added.

In March, India eased some of the restrictions on Chinese investment that it imposed following the 2020 border clashes, focusing on electronics, capital goods and solar cell sectors. It is also considering faster approvals for joint ventures between ​Indian and Chinese firms in some industries.

New Delhi has since ‌approved a few significant projects, including a manufacturing venture between India’s Dixon Technologies and Chinese smartphone maker Vivo Mobile.

NSA Doval calls on Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng ahead of border talks

But that has not been enough to attract back leading Chinese companies like vehicle makers BYD and Great Wall Motor, which shelved planned investments in India after facing heightened scrutiny by New Delhi, according to an Indian government source.

Great Wall Motor and BYD declined to comment.

‘Partners, not competitors’

Chinese companies’ proposed investments in India are ‌facing more scrutiny from Beijing itself, including in sectors where sophisticated manufacturing and high-end technology may be involved, the source and another person ​said, both requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the press.

Also Read | China’s media slams India’s move of formally naming 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh

China’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters that Mr. Xi and Mr. Modi, who briefly met this month at a regional forum in Kyrgyzstan, think the two countries are “partners, not competitors, ⁠and they represent opportunities, not threats, for each other’s development”.

India’s Trade and Foreign Ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

New Delhi has declined to approve a proposal by Alipay, a platform related to China’s Ant Group, to be linked to India’s instant payments system, citing national security concerns, Reuters reported last week.

The Indian ‌government is also considering a recommendation by its Serious Fraud Investigation Office that Chinese cellphone maker Xiaomi be investigated for alleged irregularities in its business in India and breach of foreign investment laws, Reuters has reported. Xiaomi said it complies with all local laws and has not received any communication from the SFIO.

At the same time, one of the Indian sources said, Chinese authorities have asked companies not to sell critical technology and infrastructure to India, including port equipment, solar panels and mobile manufacturing equipment. China’s Commerce Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, India and China resumed direct flights and New Delhi eased visa procedures for Chinese business professionals.

However, some Indian business people with interests in China have recently had trouble securing visas, ‌according to one of the sources and an industry executive.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it issues visas for “Indian nationals who have a genuine need to visit China” in accordance with the ​law and regulations.

This year, equipment and components made in China that India needs in key sectors such as solar energy and electronics as well as infrastructure development have been held up at Chinese customs, according to the industry executive and the two ⁠Indian sources.

Some massive boring machines from China for key infrastructure projects in India have been held up for more than a year, a third Indian source, a ⁠government official, said.

The hold-up of visas and equipment “reflects more than administrative friction” and shows China’s willingness to use India’s trade and technology dependence as leverage, said Ajay Srivastava, founder of New Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative and a former Indian trade negotiator.

But a ‌meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi could help dismantle some barriers, if it goes well.

Anup Wadhawan, a former top Indian trade official, said any meeting between the top leaders of the two countries will “always afford opportunities to better align political and economic interests”.

“Of course, commercial ties are ​ultimately driven by the mutual economic interests of the citizens of both countries. Bilateral discussions can, however, work towards enabling these pathways to fructify.”

Published – September 10, 2026 03:27 pm IST

On the surface, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Egypt this week is a run-of-the-mill opportunity for two countries to strengthen economic and diplomatic ties.

But there is deep subtext to the meeting between Mr. Xi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi: China, the United States’ top global rival, is cultivating an extensive relationship with one of America’s key allies in West Asia as it moves to expand its influence in the rapidly changing region.

Mr. Xi aims to present China as a stabiliser in the region and contrast it with the United States, which for decades has been militarily entangled there — its six-month war with Iran being just the latest example.

“China continues to build up its soft power reserves while the United States self-sabotages its own stock,” Amr Hamzawy, director of the Washington-based Carnegie Middle East Program, wrote in a paper earlier this year along with Kathryn Selfe, a former fellow at the program.

Mr. Xi arrived Tuesday (September 1, 2026) evening at the Cairo airport, which was adorned with Chinese and Egyptian flags. El-Sissi and military guards greeted him on the tarmac with a red-carpet ceremony. The leaders are scheduled to hold talks on Wednesday (September 2, 2026), and Mr. Xi plans to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum, near the pyramids of Giza.

It has been a while since Xi has visited West Asia

Mr. Xi will be in Egypt for three days. It is his first visit there in a decade, and his first trip to the region since visiting Saudi Arabia in 2022. Mr. El-Sissi has visited China multiple times in recent years.

The leaders marked 70 years of diplomatic ties by publishing friendly opinion pieces Tuesday (September 1, 2026) in Egypt’s state-run newspapers.

Mr. Xi wrote that Beijing and Cairo should “expand the scope of pragmatic collaboration” through development. Mr. El-Sissi lauded China’s investments in Egypt and reiterated Cairo’s support for China’s claim that Taiwan is part of its territory.

Egypt views its growing relationship with China as a way to diversify its strategic partnerships.

In 2023, Egypt was invited to join the BRICS bloc of nations, a grouping of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and is seen as a counterbalance to Western-led institutions such as the G7.

A year later, Egypt signed agreements with China to collaborate on its Belt and Road Initiative, a signature policy of Xi’s that seeks to build power and transportation infrastructure around the world.

China has invested more than $10 billion in Egypt, building a business hub east of the capital, Cairo, and an electric rail line for industry in the Nile Delta. Annual trade between the two countries is estimated at $20 billion, according to government figures.

Trade between the U.S. and Egypt was $15.7 billion in 2025. Egypt is a crucial partner in U.S. national security priorities in the region, and the countries’ leaders enjoy close ties.

China has been trying to build bridges between West Asia nations

In 2023, Beijing brokered a deal to reestablish diplomatic ties between Iran — its most important regional ally and oil supplier — and Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally. The agreement showcased China’s aspirations to compete with the United States for influence in the West Asia.

Since then, ties between Riyadh and Tehran have frayed. Iran attacked Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries as part of its retaliation against the U.S. and Israel, which launched the war on February 28.

China has cast itself as a regional mediator in other ways. It has long advocated a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is seen by the Arab world as a linchpin to regional stability.

Shortly before Hamas militants attacked Israel in 2023 and launched the war in Gaza, Mr. Xi had hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and announced a “strategic partnership” with the Palestinian Authority.

The Suez Canal is a vital alternative to the Strait of Hormuz

With oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz heavily disrupted by the Iran war, the Suez Canal — which is controlled by Egypt — has become an important alternative path for getting energy supplies out of the region.

“China has good reason to strengthen ties with the country that controls the route still open,” said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a West Asia expert with Jakarta’s Center of Economic and Law Studies.

Mr. Xi views Egypt “as a base to reach the wider Arab and African world, at a time when the U.S. has less attention to spare there,” said Mr. Rakhmat.

In August, China and Egypt held a multi-day air exercise at several bases across Egypt — the first-ever combat exercise for China’s J-16 fighter jets and Egypt’s French-made Rafale fighters.

Mr. Xi is visiting Cairo after attending a two-day conference of the 10-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a political and security group billed as a counterweight to U.S. global influence. The leaders of Russia, India, Pakistan and Iran attended the conference in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek.

The trip also comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s “economic onslaught” on Iran’s financial connections around the world. The sanctions aim to isolate the Islamic Republic from its remaining economic partners, including China, which buys more than 80% of Iranian oil shipments, usually through indirect channels.

Beijing says its trade with Iran has always abided by international law.

Published – September 02, 2026 10:49 am IST

Chinese President Xi Jinping during the opening session of China’s 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has received assurance from China on building the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project. The discussion in this regard took place when Mr. Rahman visited Beijing during June 24-26 and met top Chinese officials, including Premier Li Qiang, President Xi Jinping and Chinese water resources minister Li Guoying.

China has harvested its major rivers for power generation and irrigation, and is considered a major dam builder among the world powers. It is expected to expedite a feasibility study of the Teesta project that aims to change the physical nature of the Teesta inside Bangladesh and turn it into an artery of economic development.

What is the Chinese proposal on Teesta about?

Bangladesh has been in talks with China about managing and developing the Teesta river region for nearly a decade, and the discussion has spanned the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which has been taken forward by the current government of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

In January this year, under the interim government led by Prof. Mohammed Yunus, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Chinese state-owned power generation company POWERCHINA signed an extension to an MoU that revived the Bangladesh-China cooperation on the river. The original MoU in this project was signed in 2016 under the Sheikh Hasina government, which had suggested river bank erosion control, flood management, disaster reduction, land reclamation, transportation and environment preservation as some of the features of China’s plans for Teesta.

The MoU included dredging of 140 million cubic metres of riverine sediment, reclamation of 171 square km of land, repairing of 110 km of embankment, constructing 124 km of new embankments and developing 224 km of road network. The project would lead to building of 82 jetty facilities along the Teesta. As a lower riparian project, the Chinese plans cannot disrupt the Teesta upstream in India and it aims to create conditions for Bangladesh to better utilise the water that it gets from India at present.

What is the problem that Bangladesh faces on the Teesta?

Teesta’s water is essential for the farmers of northern Bangladesh, covering districts like Nilphamari, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogura, Joypurhat and Gaibandha. Bangladesh’s main complaint is that Teesta’s water reduces to a trickle in the winter months between December and February, when water is required for sowing of paddy and vegetables.

To deal with its water requirements, Bangladesh built the Teesta Barrage, the largest irrigation project of the country, in the 1990s. The Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project (TBIP) was built to help the northern region of Bangladesh, as it had a history of being hit by Teesta’s floods, followed by a long spell of dry season, both of which used to disturb the local agricultural cycle.

India has built barrages and electricity projects upstream in the Teesta that allow it to harvest Teesta’s waters for requirements in West Bengal, Sikkim and Assam. Most prominent among these is the barrage in Gajoldoba in West Bengal, which is a major irrigation project that is controlled by the West Bengal government.

Whenever India holds water for its needs in Gajoldoba or in power generation units in Sikkim, Bangladesh claims that the part of the Teesta on its side goes low on water. For example, last year in November, TBIP had to shut all its gates as the water flow on the Teesta had reduced. The TBIP is used to store water for nearly 55,000 hectares of land, but the reduction of water on the river causes concern for it as lack of water affects both irrigation as well as commercial activities on the river.

What is the importance of Teesta to India?

Teesta originates from the spectacular high altitude Cholamu or Tso Lhamu Lake (5100 metres) in the Himalayan range in Sikkim. As the river flows down, it gathers volume from multiple glaciers and streams, and India has built multiple power generation projects on the river in Sikkim. Apart from Gajoldoba/Gojaldoba in West Bengal, Teesta is used for multiple power projects (at least six major and several smaller) in Sikkim and West Bengal that generate electricity required in the region. The river is also a major tourism attraction and serves as home of migratory birds in West Bengal.

What has been India-Bangladesh negotiations over Teesta?

Bangladesh’s main demand from India has been getting what it considers to be a fair share of the Teesta’s water so that the irrigation project in North Bangladesh can run smoothly. The two sides had negotiated the issue of sharing of Teesta’s water for decades, and the matter was taken up again in 2010 when India prepared a set of principles for sharing of Teesta’s water, and the two sides agreed to an interim agreement.

However, the agreement was not sealed when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Dhaka in 2011, mainly because of objections from Mamata Banerjee, who had spoken about the matter during her election rallies that year. Ms. Banerjee became Chief Minister that year after defeating the Left.

A Joint Statement issued on September 7, 2011, in Dhaka said, “The two Prime Ministers welcomed that there has been progress on the principles and modalities of interim agreements on sharing of waters of Teesta and Feni Rivers on a fair and equitable basis. They directed the concerned officials to work towards concluding the agreements at the earliest.” At the end, it was clear that Kolkata’s objection prevailed over Delhi’s plans.

Subsequently, Sheikh Hasina repeatedly raised the issue during her visits to Delhi and discussed this matter in June 2024 when a technical committee was planned to take the matter forward.

Before that visit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra had visited Dhaka and conveyed the Indian offer of financing the $1 billion project to dredge and manage the Teesta in Bangladesh. That was the last attempt by India to deal with the issue, as the two sides did not discuss the matter during the 15-month-long interim rule in Dhaka, which was followed by the BNP government led by PM Rahman.

What are India’s concerns on Bangladesh going to China for the Teesta project?

The area of Nilphamari and Rangpur is near Jalpaiguri of India, which is where the “chicken’s neck” is located. POWERCHINA, which has revived the MoU with Bangladesh, is a large organisation experienced in river projects, but it is also related to the strategic sectors of China.

Stationing a large number of Chinese professionals so close to a sensitive area of India will raise eyebrows in India. However, Bangladesh has several internationally supported projects, including the Ruppur nuclear power plant that has engineers and technicians from multiple countries, including Russia and Ukraine. China earlier built the landmark Padma Bridge during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure in 2022. The bridge was built by China Major Bridge Engineering Company.

Published – June 27, 2026 01:30 pm IST

A file image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump.
| Photo Credit: ANI