US Treasury Secretary Bessent says he had a meeting with China's Vice Premier He, to finish the weekend conversation. Finalising the AI-hotline language and other points, ahead of the leaders meeting later in the week.

The mention of finalising language, here an AI hotline and residual points, is the tell that the deliverables are already substantially agreed; in past episodes, communiques reaching the wording stage ahead of a leaders' meeting have tended to survive it, whereas meetings still haggling over substance at this point have tended to produce vague joint statements. An AI hotline fits the established pattern of US-China risk-communication channels, which have previously been built for military and crisis contacts and are typically symbolically significant but slow to be tested. Bessent's role as principal interlocutor is consistent with the treasury-led track carrying the economic file while trade representatives handle tariff specifics. The follow-ons are the leader meeting itself, any joint statement text, and whether the weekend conversation referenced produces anything on tariffs, export controls, or fentanyl-linked measures, the items that have historically carried the actual market content in these cycles.