China and US launch AI safety channel, extend trade truce

China and the U.S. agreed to establish a channel for handling AI-related incidents and accelerate military crisis communications following a three-day summit in Washington, both sides announced Saturday. The summit produced no major breakthroughs, but both sides agreed to continue trade talks, extend a trade truce by two months, and have China import at least 10 million metric tons of U.S. coal in 2027-2028. They also pledged to work on rare earths supply and military crisis prevention. Both sides will hold an AI-specific dialogue in November and meet again at the APEC summit in Shenzhen. They also issued joint statements on Iran's nuclear commitments and international waterways, while analysts noted the working-level engagement helps institutionalize stability.