President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet at the White House on Thursday for a summit expected to focus on trade, artificial intelligence, critical minerals and other issues affecting relations between the world’s two largest economies.

The meeting follows talks Sunday in New York between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the discussions, which were expected to continue throughout the day and potentially at the working level Monday.

The talks are intended to prepare for possible agreements when Trump and Xi meet.

One of the main issues is the future of the countries’ trade truce, which is scheduled to expire in November. Both sides are looking for ways to ease tensions involving trade, technology and other strategic concerns.

Rare earth magnets and critical minerals are also expected to be a major topic. U.S. officials are seeking to ensure continued supplies of the materials from China because they are important to American manufacturers.

Artificial intelligence is another area under discussion. The two countries are considering possible safeguards aimed at reducing shared risks while avoiding the development of completely separate AI systems.

Agricultural trade could also be reviewed. China made commitments during earlier negotiations to purchase U.S. agricultural products, and fulfillment of those agreements could be examined during the current round of talks.

Iran may also figure into the discussions. China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and an important diplomatic partner for Tehran as U.S. economic pressure on Iran continues.

Source: Yahoo!News