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Nayan Seth

The US-China Board of Investment, one of the key outcomes of the May summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, is unlikely to be among the deliverables for their expected meeting next month in Washington, according to the head of a leading bilateral business group.
“I’m not seeing evidence yet that that’s going to be a sizeable deliverable for the next summit,” Sean Stein, the president of the US-China Business Council, told the South China Morning Post.
“The US side and the Chinese side neither have really initiated the consultation process,” he said, adding that “it looks like neither side is ready yet for discussions with the private sector”.
In an email response to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese embassy in Washington said that economic and trade teams of both countries are “maintaining close communication regarding the relevant mechanisms”.
“We believe that the trade and investment councils will provide a platform for pragmatic discussions between the two countries on mutual concerns in the areas of trade and investment,” embassy spokesman Liu Chang said.
He added that the boards would help shift economic and trade consultations from “crisis response” to “mechanised management”.
The US Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comment.


The creation of the Board of Investment was announced in May alongside a new Board of Trade as mechanisms for managing business ties between the world’s two largest economies.
According to a White House fact sheet released after the summit, the Board of Investment aimed to provide a “government-to-government forum for discussing investment-related issues” while the Board of Trade focused on bilateral trade in non-sensitive sectors.
Negotiations fizzle out after ‘differing views’ on how to move forward
While the negotiations over the Board of Trade are making headway, both sides remain tight-lipped regarding the status of the investment board.
“It’s of little surprise that the Board of Investment has not got off the ground since its announcement last May,” said Wendy Cutler, the senior vice-president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
She attributed the delay to “differing views in the administration and Congress on the benefits and risks of more Chinese [foreign direct investment] FDI in the US”.
“The US position on Chinese investment in the United States is a work in progress, with Trump welcoming potential opportunities in the US for Chinese investors, with others in his cabinet and Congress being more circumspect,” she noted.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of Chinese carmakers building manufacturing plants in the United States, but his administration has taken steps to keep them out, citing concerns over espionage, Chinese state subsidies and unfair competition.
Overall, Chinese FDI into the US plummeted from US$55 billion in 2016 to just US$4 billion in 2025, according to data from the Rhodium Group, a research firm.
“I don’t think they are yet focused as much on the Board of Investment as they are on the Board of Trade and making sure the Board of Trade can very quickly deliver results for both countries,” Stein said.
With the investment arrangement remaining on the back burner, negotiations on the Board of Trade have intensified, with both sides racing to finalise non-sensitive sectors and products eligible for a tariff-free trade capped at US$30 billion each.
In June, the US Trade Representative (USTR) invited public comments on “specific types of non-sensitive products” that could be included in the Board of Trade.


Last month, the Chinese embassy in Washington said agriculture and aviation were among the sectors selected for tariff-reduced trade, with the two governments setting a “guiding objective” of expanding two-way agricultural trade and agreeing “in principle” to include farm products in a framework for reciprocal tariff reductions.
The proposed trade and investment mechanisms coexist with escalating economic tensions between Washington and Beijing, with the US imposing additional tariffs and both sides expanding export controls and other restrictions targeting companies and sensitive technologies.
Cutler stressed that even the Board of Trade is “making slow progress”, while questions remain over how both boards will function.
“On both the Board of Trade and Investment, we have yet to learn the chairs from each side, as well as their specific mandates.”
Although details remain scarce, the issue continues to feature in US readouts and official statements in the lead-up to Xi’s likely visit to Washington next month.
High hopes for economic deliverables, but little progress made
On July 30, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and USTR Jamieson Greer held a video call with Vice-Premier He Lifeng to finalise economic deliverables, with Bessent saying on social media that they had discussed “implementation of the Trade and Investment Boards”.
Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also held a 90-minute meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ gathering in Manila.
After the talks, Rubio said the discussions covered the implementation of newly established boards, with both sides working to operationalise them.
“I think that’s one of the potential concrete deliverables that we can have before September when that visit happens,” Rubio said.
However, Cutler said the level of diplomatic activity ahead of next month’s meeting was notably lower than previous leader-level summits.
“Bilateral engagement at all levels in the lead-up to the September meeting is much less intense than in previous administrations.”


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President of US-China Business Council says neither side has ‘initiated consultation process’ or is ready yet for private sector discussions


President of US-China Business Council says neither side has ‘initiated consultation process’ or is ready yet for private sector discussions.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}President of US-China Business Council says neither side has ‘initiated consultation process’ or is ready yet for private sector discussions

President of US-China Business Council says neither side has ‘initiated consultation process’ or is ready yet for private sector discussions