China's MOFCOM they discussed AI with the US under the bilateral economic and trade consultation mechanism

Announcements routed through the US-China bilateral economic and trade consultation mechanism have historically functioned as signalling devices rather than policy events: the mechanism itself has cycled through active and dormant phases in line with the broader relationship, and readouts of this kind tend to emphasise process continuity over substance. The notable element is AI appearing as a discussion topic within a trade framework, since technology export controls and compute access have been among the most contentious bilateral files; inclusion of the topic in the consultation readout suggests both sides want the channel seen as functioning, without implying convergence on the underlying restrictions. Language on relaxing market access and expanding digital consumption follows a familiar pattern from MOFCOM statements, where such commitments are broad, directional and rarely accompanied by implementing detail at first issuance. The distinction that matters is between readout rhetoric and subsequent concrete measures, such as tariff adjustments, entity list changes or published rules on cross-border e-commerce. The follow-ons worth tracking are any corresponding US readout, which in past episodes has diverged sharply in tone from the Chinese account, and whether the next scheduled round of talks produces named deliverables rather than continued dialogue.