The two-day meeting that began Monday between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Stockholm will be key to Washington and Beijing’s efforts to stabilize the truce in their chaotic, tit-for-tat trade war. Even more importantly, it will also be a bellwether for a productive summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is expected to occur before early November.

Although U.S.-China tensions have dominated headlines this year, there is reason to believe that this week’s meeting will lay the foundation for Trump and Xi to establish a much more constructive relationship between the world’s two most powerful nations.

The two-day meeting that began Monday between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Stockholm will be key to Washington and Beijing’s efforts to stabilize the truce in their chaotic, tit-for-tat trade war. Even more importantly, it will also be a bellwether for a productive summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is expected to occur before early November.

Although U.S.-China tensions have dominated headlines this year, there is reason to believe that this week’s meeting will lay the foundation for Trump and Xi to establish a much more constructive relationship between the world’s two most powerful nations.

Here’s my prediction for what’s to come: In what they may call a “great rebalancing,” when Trump and Xi finally meet, they will announce advances not only on trade but on other issues, including major investments in energy and manufacturing, a serious Chinese crackdown on exports of fentanyl precursors, a resolution of the TikTok standoff, and promises of Chinese purchases of more U.S. products to reduce the bilateral trade deficit. The two leaders will also talk candidly in private about how they can work together to constrain the provocations of Taiwan’s current government.

If we stretch our minds, it is even possible to imagine that this summit will announce the foundation of a new relationship—maybe even a “partnership”—between the two nations.

This forecast is not based on any leak of secret information. Indeed, if this happens, it may genuinely surprise many members........

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