CHINESE Vice-President Han Zheng has held meetings with US Vice-President JD Vance and business leaders including Elon Musk in Washington.

Sunday’s meeting follows years of the US stoking tensions between the two nations over trade and technology.

Mr Han, who represented Chinese President Xi Jinping at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, “discussed a range of topics, including fentanyl, balancing trade and regional stability” with Mr Vance, according to Mr Trump’s transition team.

The Chinese vice-president stressed the “extensive common interests and enormous space of co-operation” that the US and China share in economic and trade relations, despite “some disagreements and frictions,” according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry following the meeting with Mr Vance.

Mr Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and other measures on China during his second term, while also hinting at ways in which the two rival powers could co-operate on issues such as regional conflicts and trade.

Last month, Mr Trump formally invited Mr Xi to his inauguration. While the Chinese president did not attend in person, he and Mr Trump held a phone call on Friday that included discussions of trade and TikTok. 

The Chinese social media platform restored service to users in the US on Sunday, just hours after it closed under a federal ban, which Mr Trump said he would pause by executive order today.

Mr Han also met Mr Musk and other top US business executives, including representatives of the US-China Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Mr Musk, whose Tesla company operates a factory in Shanghai, posted on his X social media platform after the meeting that he has long opposed the TikTok ban “because it goes against freedom of speech.”