Bessent: Trump and Xi Could Hold Four High-Level Meetings in 2026
Says China “right on schedule” with pledges to boost U.S. soybean purchasesTreasury
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may meet as many as four times in 2026, a level of direct engagement he argued would help cement stability in the relationship and bolster the global economy.
Speaking on CNBC, Bessent said he is “very good” about the rapport between the leaders despite their strategic rivalry. Trump is expected to travel to Beijing in April and may also attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen next November. Xi, in turn, is expected to make two U.S. visits — an official state visit in Washington and a G20 leaders’ summit hosted at Trump’s Doral resort.
“If there are four meetings during the year, I think that that gives the relationship great stability — and stability is good for the American people and good for the world economy,” Bessent said.
Bessent has been at the forefront of efforts to preserve the tenuous U.S./China trade truce,leading rounds of talks in cities including Geneva, London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur. His comments follow Monday’s phone call between Trump and Xi — the first since their October meeting in Busan, South Korea — which Bessent confirmed was initiated by Trump.
On agriculture, Bessent said China is “right on schedule” with its pledges to boost U.S. soybean purchases and is committed to buying a minimum of 87.5 million metric tons over the next three-and-a-half years. Beijing had halted purchases earlier in the year as tensions escalated, making soybean sales a central point of negotiation heading into the most recent talks.
Bessent added that U.S. policy toward Taiwan “is unchanged” and that Trump and Xi agreed to cooperate on efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
