US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was due to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to hash out trade issues between the world's two largest economies, less than three weeks before President Donald Trump is expected to make an official visit to China to meet his counterpart Xi Jinping.

China's state broadcaster CCTV said the talks were being held at the OECD headquarters in Paris.

The diplomatic engagements come at a tumultuous time for the global economy, as energy markets are sent spinning from the impact of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Beijing is a close partner of Tehran and has condemned the killing of Iran's former supreme leader, but it has also criticised Iranian strikes against Gulf states.

China and the United States fought a bruising trade war for much of 2025, with reciprocal tariffs reaching triple digits at one point and export restrictions threatening to wreck global supply chains for critical minerals.

Tensions cooled after Trump met Xi in Busan, South Korea, in October, but new US probes into Chinese industrial overcapacity and forced labour announced on Wednesday threaten more instability.

China's commerce ministry said in a statement on Friday that officials in Paris would "conduct consultations on economic and trade issues of mutual concern", without giving further details about the content of the talks.

Bessent, who was to be accompanied by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, said in a statement on Thursday that "economic dialogue" between the countries "is moving forward".

The Paris gathering, which is due to last two days, is seen as setting the stage for Trump's expected visit to China later this month.

Washington has said Trump will visit China from March 31 to April 2, although Beijing has yet to confirm those dates in line with its usual practice.