U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addresses journalists in a press conference July 9 capping her four-day Beijing visit. She said “direct, substantive and productive” talks have set relations between the world’s two largest economies on a “surer footing.”
Pedro Pardo | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said 10 hours of meetings with Chinese officials in two days were “direct, substantive and productive” and a step forward in helping to set relations between the world’s two largest economies on a “surer footing.”
Yellen’s Beijing trip comes at a time when Washington is considering curbs on U.S. investment in China amid an escalating global battle for technological supremacy. She is the second member of U.S. President Joe Biden’s cabinet to go to Beijing in recent weeks amid efforts to stabilize ties between the 2 powers.
“The U.S. and China have significant disagreements. Those disagreements must be communicated clearly and directly,” Yellen said in prepared remarks. “But President [Joe] Biden and I don’t see the connection between the U.S. and China through the frame of great power conflict.”
“We imagine that the world is sufficiently big for each of our countries to thrive. Each nations have an obligation to responsibly manage this relationship: to search out a option to live together and share in global prosperity,” she added.
In comments at a press conference capping her four-day Beijing visit, Yellen said she told her Chinese counterparts that any curbs on U.S. outbound investments can be “transparent” and “very narrowly targeted.”
Otherwise, she added, Chinese officials can raise their concerns and U.S. will in some cases, address unintended consequences.
“Broadly speaking, I think that my bilateral meetings – which totaled about 10 hours over two days – served as a step forward in our effort to place the U.S.-China relationship on surer footing,” Yellen concluded.
Just days before Yellen’s visit, Beijing had slapped export curbs on chipmaking metals and its compounds — which China’s Ministry of Commerce claimed to have given the U.S. and Europe advance notice. In October, the U.S. launched sweeping rules aimed toward cutting off exports of key chips and semiconductor tools to China.Â
Diversifying, not decoupling
Yellen said she “made clear that the US isn’t searching for to decouple from China,” in her discussions with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng and other senior officials.
“There’s a crucial distinction between decoupling, on the one hand, and however, diversifying critical supply chains or taking targeted national security actions,” she said.
“We all know that a decoupling of the world’s two largest economies can be disastrous for each countries and destabilizing for the world,” she added. “And it might be virtually unimaginable to undertake.”
China Vice Premier He said Saturday talks with Yellen were “constructive,” in keeping with a Chinese government readout.
“Noting that the overstretching of national security does no good to the conventional economic and trade exchanges, the Chinese side expressed concerns over the sanctions and restrictions imposed by the US on China,” the identical statement said.
“The 2 sides agreed to strengthen communication and cooperation on addressing global challenges, and proceed maintaining exchanges and interactions,” the statement added.
Tricky balance
Yellen’s task in Beijing was a tough one. While she expressed her worries on “a recent uptick in coercive actions against American firms,” she also sought to hunt Chinese cooperation on issues starting from debt distress in emerging markets and developing countries to climate change.Â
These are principles she specified by an April speech where she stressed the importance of fairness within the U.S. economic competition with China.
Then, she had outlined three economic priorities for the U.S.-China relationship: securing national security interests and protecting human rights, fostering mutually useful growth and cooperating on global challenges like climate change and debt distress.
“I think that if China were to support existing multilateral climate institutions just like the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Investment Funds alongside us and other donor governments, we could have a greater impact than we do today,” Yellen said ahead of a Friday climate finance roundtable in Beijing.
Yellen’s visit is a component of ongoing efforts to stabilize U.S.-China relations after months of escalating tensions. Her visit got here just weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit last month.
“My objective during this trip has been to ascertain and deepen relationships with the brand new economic leadership team in place in Beijing. Our discussions are a part of a broader concerted effort to stabilize the connection, reduce the danger of bewilderment, and discuss areas of cooperation,” Yellen said Saturday.
These efforts could pave the best way for a gathering between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Latest Delhi in September and the APEC leaders’ summit in San Francisco in November. Each leaders last met in Bali last 12 months.
“Nobody visit will solve our challenges overnight,” Yellen said. “But I expect that this trip will help construct a resilient and productive channel of communication with China’s latest economic team.”
