Bessent Holds Talks With Chinese Vice Premier in South Korea

The talks are expected to set the stage for the high-stakes summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrives at Incheon International Airport ahead of a scheduled meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and trade talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Incheon, South Korea, on May 13, 2026. Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a closed-door meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng shortly after they arrived in South Korea on May 13 for trade negotiations.

The meeting lasted three hours and was held under tight security at a VIP lounge at Incheon International Airport in Seoul after their respective meetings with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Neither the United States nor China provided details of the talks, though the meeting was widely seen as laying the groundwork for the high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s president told reporters that Lee and Bessent discussed supply chains and critical minerals.

In a separate meeting with He, the South Korean president said it was in the interests of both his country and the international community to maintain stable U.S.–China relations, according to the spokesperson.

The meeting between Bessent and He took place just one day before the leaders’ summit in China scheduled for May 14, which Bessent is also expected to attend.

Ahead of his trips to Japan and South Korea, Bessent said in a May 10 post on X that he was looking forward to having “a productive series of engagements” with foreign officials amid efforts to advance Trump’s America First economic agenda.

Bessent and He previously held a video call on April 30, also attended by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, during which they discussed creating a new “Board of Trade” to help manage trade ties between the world’s two largest economies.

Bessent later said in a post on X that he spoke with the Chinese vice premier on the upcoming leaders’ summit in China.

Trump, on May 12, departed Washington for his May 13–15 China trip, which will be his first presidential visit to Beijing since taking office for a second term in January 2025.

Ahead of his visit, Trump told reporters outside the White House on May 12 that he would have a “long talk” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping about the Iran war, but did not see a need for China’s assistance.

U.S. President Donald Trump waves from the stairs of Air Force One as he boards upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on May 12, 2026. Luis M. Alvarez/AP Photo

“I don’t think we need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other. We’ll win it peacefully or otherwise,” he told reporters.

China is the biggest buyer of Iran’s sanctioned crude oil.

Trump said that China is far more dependent on the Strait of Hormuz for oil shipments than the United States, which has its own oil resources, though he believes the talks with Xi will yield good results.

“They get a lot of their oil from that area. We’ve had no problem,” he said. “[Xi has] been somebody that we get along with. And I think you’re going to see that good things are going to happen.”

Bessent told Fox News on May 4 that China had been “funding the largest state sponsor of terrorism” through its purchases of Iranian oil and gas. He called on the Chinese communist regime to push Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Boats navigate the sea in the Strait of Hormuz near Qeshm Island, Iran, on April 28, 2026. Asghar Besharati/Getty Images

The strait is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, with about 20 percent of global oil supplies passing through the waterway, but shipping traffic has been disrupted by Iran in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks on its nuclear and military sites beginning in late February.

The United States and Iran entered a temporary ceasefire in April, but a U.S. naval blockade on vessels entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas remains in place, while Tehran imposed what it described as “strict military oversight” in the Strait of Hormuz.

Chris Summers and Reuters contributed to this report.