U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing on July 6, 2023, for her first visit under the Biden administration.
Mark Schiefelbein | Afp | Getty Images
BEIJING — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended American actions to guard its national security in prepared remarks for a gathering with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
“America will, in certain circumstances, must pursue targeted actions to guard its national security,” Yellen said Friday in prepared remarks.
“And we may disagree in these instances,” she said.
Amongst several measures, the U.S. in October announced sweeping export controls that restrict the power of Chinese businesses to develop advanced semiconductors.
This week, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that starting Aug. 1, businesses in China wanting to export two metals utilized in the manufacturing of chips would wish to use for licenses. The ministry said Thursday the measures weren’t targeted at a selected country, and that it had notified the U.S. and Europe ahead of the general public announcement.
“We should always not allow any disagreement to guide to misunderstandings that unnecessarily worsen our bilateral economic and financial relationship,” Yellen said in her prepared remarks.
She said there are “essential global challenges” where the U.S. and China must “cooperate and show leadership.”
Yellen was set to fulfill with China’s premier on Friday, the second day of her four-day trip to China.
Earlier within the day, she met with former Vice Premier Liu He and former People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang. A Treasury official said the meeting lasted for one hour and quarter-hour, longer than scheduled.
“They discussed the worldwide economic outlook in addition to the respective economic outlooks for the US and China,” the official said.
Her trip follows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s high-stakes Beijing visit last month, and comes as China’s economic growth has slowed.
Li on Thursday met with economic experts to debate growth trends and suggestions for economic work, state media said. Li said the complex global political and economic situation has greatly affected China’s development, in line with the report.
