The China-US relationship had entered into a more “stable equilibrium” after last week’s talks between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies, despite the noise on the surface over tariffs and other trade disputes, said William Ford, chairman and CEO of US private equity firm General Atlantic, at the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit.

“Below the water line, there was actually a much more constructive engagement, as evidenced by [US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent] and some of the Chinese leaders in their five meetings during the year,” Ford said. “It sets the stage for a much more positive and stable relationship between the US and China in the next year.”

He said the China-US relationship was in “a cyclical upswing”, despite some longer-term challenges related to national security, competition and technology.

After talks on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump teased out some relief on a host of bilateral trade irritants, followed by Bessent’s announcement that China had approved the transfer agreement for short video app TikTok.