Chinese officials have told U.S. counterparts they will not interfere in November's presidential election, CNN reported.
President Xi Jinping, while meeting with President Joe Biden in November, said China would stay out of the 2024 election, which is expected to pit Biden against former President Donald Trump.
This past weekend, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave the same assurances to national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CNN reported based on two sources.
A source briefed on the matter said possible election interference by China has come up repeatedly at recent senior-level meetings between the two countries.
Biden and Xi met for the first time in a year when they attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.
The U.S. president raised the issue of potential Chinese election interference. Xi, in a brief exchange, said China would not interfere in the election, CNN said.
U.S. intelligence reports have said Iranian, Cuban and Chinese agents have been active in trying to influence U.S. elections.
A U.S. government report in December found that hackers linked to Russia and China targeted some election systems during the 2022 midterms, but found no evidence that foreign governments compromised the vote.
The New York Times reported in December that China has begun experimenting with artificial intelligence in its influence campaigns. New technologies make it easier for foreign countries to mimic native English speakers and generate messages amplifying existing divisions more rapidly, according to the Times.
Traditionally, Russia has been more aggressive in trying to influence U.S. elections than China, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
However, since 2020 senior Chinese officials have issued broad directives to operatives to "intensify efforts to influence US policy and public opinion in China's favor," and senior Chinese officials have aimed to "magnify U.S. societal divisions," according to a U.S. intelligence assessment declassified in December.
A senior National Security Agency official last week told reporters that the agency had not seen signs of any notable new foreign influence operations aimed at the 2024 election.
Still, officials are preparing for the possibility that Russia, Iran, China, and other foreign actors will attempt to affect voters.
"Between expanding geopolitical turmoil and the chaotic domestic political environment, there will be plenty of motivations and opportunities for a wide range of threat actors to interfere in this year's election," Chris Krebs, who led the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's work to protect elections from foreign interference in 2020, told CNN.
"Throw in AI-powered influence campaigns and 2024 might be unlike any prior election."