US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping are meeting November 18-19 at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, hoping to nail down a deal for better military crisis communication.
The big goal: sign a pact (a memorandum of understanding, or MOU) so both countries can quickly talk things out if tensions rise.
But some disagreements back home in the US are slowing things down.
US agencies split over MOU scope
The Pentagon, White House, and State Department are not on the same page about how far this pact should go, but both sides know it is important.
After recent talks between US and Chinese defense officials, there is real interest in making sure misunderstandings do not spiral into bigger problems.
As China's defense ministry put it, managing crises together is key to keeping things safe between these two major powers.