Vice Premier He Lifeng will travel to Paris from March 14–17 for economic and trade consultations with US officials, a trip confirmed by Washington. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will lead the US delegation and will be joined by USTR Jamieson Greer. The talks are seen as preparatory to an expected Trump visit to China (March 31–April 2) and come as the US launches probes into excess industrial capacity that Beijing has criticised as unilateral.
He Lifeng Heads to Paris: China-US Economic Talks Set Ahead of Expected Trump‑Xi Summit
China's Vice-Premier He Lifeng at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in January. He travels to France on Saturday to meet with his US counterpart Scott Bessent (Fabrice COFFRINI)(Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP/AFP)
China's top economic official, Vice Premier He Lifeng, will travel to Paris from March 14 to 17 to hold economic and trade consultations with US counterparts, Beijing said on Friday. Washington confirmed the meeting a day earlier and announced that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will lead the US delegation, accompanied by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
An unnamed spokesperson for China’s commerce ministry said the talks will "conduct consultations on economic and trade issues of mutual concern," but provided no further details about the agenda or timing.
Commerce ministry statement: 'As agreed by China and the United States, (Vice Premier) He Lifeng will lead a delegation to France from March 14 to 17 to hold economic and trade consultations with the US side.'
US officials described the gathering in Paris as part of an ongoing economic dialogue between the two countries. The meetings are widely viewed as preparatory to a planned summit between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping; Washington has said Mr. Trump will visit China from March 31 to April 2, although Beijing has not yet formally confirmed those dates.
The talks come amid renewed trade tensions. On Wednesday, USTR Jamieson Greer announced trade investigations into excess industrial capacity affecting China and other partners. China’s commerce ministry condemned the probes as "a typical act of unilateralism that severely undermines the international economic and trade order" and urged the US to correct what it called erroneous practices.
Analysts say the Paris meetings aim to manage bilateral friction, narrow differences on trade and industrial policy, and set the tone ahead of high‑level diplomacy between the world's two largest economies.
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