Treasury Says Promotes China Friendship

[ABS News Service/12.11.2026]

Days before President Trump and Chinese President Xi meet to try to mend bilateral relations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that neither side should harbor any illusions about their differences.

“Our interests will not always coincide. And our approach to every challenge, likewise, will not always converge,” he said in a speech to the National Committee on US-China relations.

Mr. Bessent touted the degree to which good personal relations between the two Presidents has helped to move the bilateral relationship forward. Next week’s meeting will be the third face-to-face between the two leaders this year and they will meet again next month for the G20 leaders summit.

“These meetings are historic in their frequency. Never before have our leaders engaged face-to-face so often in a single year. But more significant is the understanding they are helping to establish,” he stated.

Constructive Relationship

Both sides are looking to build a “constructive relationship on the basis of balance and reciprocity,” Mr. Bessent continued. He pointed to two new institutions created this year to promote that objective – the Board of Trade and the Board of Investment.

“And these initiatives are part of our broader work to advance a fair and reciprocal relationship with China,” he said. “They give practical expression to the principle at the core of President Trump’s agenda, which is to measure the success of American engagement abroad by what it delivers here at home. By how it advances the prosperity of our people. Strengthens the resilience of our economy. And safeguards the security of our nation.”

China’s trade surplus with the United States remains a source of friction, he admitted, while repeating that the Administration’s objective is to “de-risk, not to decouple.”

But the US economy has been too dependent on Chinese supply, while Beijing relies on foreign demand. “Working together, we can strengthen both of our economies without perpetuating the imbalances between them.”