China, US agree to set up new AI safety channel, and to keep talking on trade, military
China and the US agreed to set up a channel for handling AI-related incidents and accelerate work on military crisis communications following a three-day summit between their leaders in Washington, both sides said in statements Saturday.
The two sides agreed to keep working together on a Board of Trade on selected bilateral trade issues, with the White House saying in a statement Saturday that the board went into operation this week.
The summit produced no major breakthroughs, but some experts say the steps toward greater cooperation were still considered important, allowing the two powers to set up working groups that could prevent problems from escalating.
Chinese President Xi Jinping landed back in Beijing on Saturday, according to Xinhua. During the visit, President Donald Trump was remarkably warm to Xi, despite having escalated a trade war with China the previous year that had global repercussions.
The two sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on strengthening crisis communications and preventing crises between the two militaries, China's Foreign Ministry said Saturday in its readout. The one-page statement from the Chinese side was light on details.
Both sides will set up a communication mechanism for artificial intelligence -related incidents, to discuss related risks and benefits, with an AI-specific dialogue scheduled for November.
The statement said both sides will continue to work together on the pledge to reduce reciprocal tariffs on roughly USD 30 billion worth of goods. During the summit, the two leaders agreed to extend a trade truce by two months. The White House statement said China agreed to import at least 10 million metric tons of coal from the US in 2027 and 2028.
Most of the reduction in tariffs is aimed at non-sensitive goods, such as agricultural products or holiday decorations.
The statement from the White House also said the two sides continued to work on American concerns about rare earths supply, “with the goal of ensuring shipment levels return to appropriate levels.” China put export controls on rare earths last year in response to the US tariffs, cutting the supply sent to the US and other countries.
Both sides agreed to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November, and then later at the G20 at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club in Florida.
Both also said that Iran should honour its stated commitment to not develop nuclear weapons, and that no country should charge a toll on international waterways, in reference to the Strait of Hormuz, which has seen significantly reduced traffic since the US war with Iran began.
The US statement also said it welcomed China's move to add export controls for an additional two precursor chemicals for fentanyl, and both noted that law enforcement had been able to make arrests in fentanyl-related cases recently.
Although the visit produced no major breakthroughs on the countries' fundamental differences, analysts said the incremental steps were noteworthy.
“Personal diplomacy between the two leaders is important, but the emphasis on working-level engagement, military-to-military dialogue and crisis-management mechanisms suggests an effort to make that stability more durable and institutionalised,” said Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing-based think tank Centre for China and Globalisation.
