U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing this week to fulfill with senior Chinese officials.
The Treasury said Yellen is anticipated to debate quite a few macroeconomic and financial issues, in addition to how the U.S. and China can “responsibly manage our relationship, communicate directly about areas of concern, and work together to handle global challenges.”
A senior administration official told reporters that the trip is meant to “to deepen and increase the frequency of communication between our countries moving forward and to stabilize the connection, avoid miscommunication, and expand collaboration where we are able to.”
The official noted, nevertheless, that the Biden administration doesn’t expect significant breakthroughs during Yellen’s trip. Treasury said it would supply further details on her trip at a later date.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV confirmed Yellen might be visiting from July 6-9.
In an April speech, Yellen outlined three economic priorities for the U.S.-China relationship: securing national security interests, fostering mutually useful growth and cooperating on global challenges like climate change and debt distress.
The senior administration official told reporters that Yellen’s visit will underscore these objectives.
Still, Yellen had emphasized in April that the U.S. won’t hesitate to “defend our vital interests.” She noted, nevertheless, that these measures are “motivated solely by our concerns about our security and values” and never intended to “gain competitive economic advantage.”
The senior administration official reiterated that stance on Sunday, saying “We don’t seek to decouple our economies, a full cessation of trade and investment can be destabilizing for each of our countries and the worldwide economy.”
Yellen’s trip comes just weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing. During his meeting, Blinken highlighted the importance of the economic relationship between the 2 nations. He noted the expansion of major economies like China is within the U.S. interest, but “it is not in our interest to supply technology to China that may very well be used against us.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
