China and the United States agreed to establish a channel to deal with AI-related incidents and accelerate work on military crisis communications after a three-day summit between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump in Washington, the two governments said on Saturday.
They also agreed to continue cooperation through a trade committee focused on selected bilateral issues. The White House said the board began work this week.
The summit did not produce any major breakthroughs, but analysts said the steps toward greater cooperation were important because they established working groups that could help prevent disputes from escalating.
Xi returned to Beijing on Saturday, according to state news agency Xinhua. During the visit, Trump showed unusual warmth toward Xi, despite escalating a trade war with China last year that had global repercussions.
The two sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding to strengthen crisis communication and prevent crises between the two militaries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in its statement on Saturday. The Chinese side’s unilateral statement contained few details.
Both sides will establish a communication mechanism for artificial intelligence-related incidents to discuss the risks and benefits involved. An AI-specific dialogue is planned for November.
Trump suggested on Saturday that there would be limits to what the US would share with China and said Washington would not throttle its AI efforts.
“The United States of America will not slow down,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “They want to stop our progress because we are way ahead of China and it will stay that way.”
He added: “I would rather not integrate because we have a big lead. When you lead, you don’t open up to each other. We have a lead of at least a year, maybe a year and a half. Some people say two years. I have no plans to open the lead.”
China’s statement said the two sides would continue to work together to reduce mutual tariffs on around $30 billion worth of goods. During the summit, the two leaders agreed to extend the trade ceasefire by two months. The White House statement said China had agreed to import at least 10 million tons of coal from the United States in 2027 and 2028.
The majority of the tariff reductions affect non-sensitive goods such as agricultural products or Christmas decorations.
The White House statement also said both sides continue to work on American concerns about rare earth supplies, “with the goal of ensuring that supply levels return to appropriate levels.” In response to U.S. tariffs, China imposed export controls on rare earths last year, reducing shipments to the U.S. and other countries.
The two sides agreed to meet in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Shenzhen, China, and later at the G20 summit at the Trump National Doral Miami Golf Club in Florida.
Both governments said Iran should honor its stated commitment not to develop nuclear weapons. They also said no country should impose tolls on international waterways, an apparent reference to the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has declined significantly since the start of the U.S. war with Iran.
The US statement welcomed China’s decision to impose export controls on two more precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl. Both sides also noted recent arrests in fentanyl-related cases.
Although the summit failed to resolve fundamental differences between countries, analysts said the incremental progress was notable.
“Personal diplomacy between the two leaders is important, but the emphasis on working-level engagement, military-to-military dialogue and crisis management mechanisms suggests efforts to make that stability more durable and institutionalized,” said Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing-based Center on China and Globalization.
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