By Andrea Shalal
BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, 10 Time for bilateral meetings with senior Chinese officials in recent days “After her four-day trip to Beijing, her remarks were “direct” and “productive” and helped stabilize the often volatile relationship.
Yellen, who will leave Beijing on Sunday, told a news conference that the U.S. and China remained at odds on many issues, but she expressed belief that her visit had pushed the U.S. ” efforts to make U.S.-China relations stronger.”
“The U.S. and China have significant differences,” Yellen told reporters at the U.S. embassy in Beijing, amid Washington’s response to what she called “unfair economic practices.” and recent punitive actions against U.S. companies.
“But (Joe) President Biden and I don’t think we believe the world is big enough for our two countries to prosper.
Yellen’s visit is the latest attempt by Washington to mend ties in a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies, which has been hit hard by Taiwan and technology issues that have left its ally Embroiled in rivalry, with implications for business and trade relations.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Beijing last month, the first by a top U.S. diplomat under the Biden presidency, while the climate Special envoy John Kerry is expected to visit China this month.
The US diplomatic push comes ahead of a possible meeting between President Biden and US President Xi Jinping in September in New Delhi 10 Group summit or APEC summit scheduled for November in San Francisco.
Yellen said her goal for the visit was to build and deepen ties with China’s new economy team links, reduces the risk of misunderstanding, and paves the way for cooperation in areas such as climate change and debt distress.
“I do think we have made some progress, I think we Healthy economic relationships can be built, which is good for us and the world,” she said, adding that she hoped for increased and more regular communication at the employee level.
She said Chinese officials were concerned about expressed concern over anticipated executive orders restricting foreign investment, but she assured them that any such measures would be narrow in scope and would be implemented in a transparent manner through a rulemaking process that allows for public participation.
Yellen said she told Chinese officials they could raise concerns about U.S. actions so that Washington could explain them and “maybe, in some cases, respond to the unintended consequences of our actions, if our actions do not After careful aiming. ”
Decoupling would be “disastrous”
She reiterated that Washington is not seeking to decouple the Chinese economy because doing so would be “disastrous for both countries would destabilize the entire country “. the world.”
But she said the US wanted to see an “open, free and fair economy” rather than forcing countries to choose sides economy.
Asked about plans by the so-called BRICS countries (Brazil, India, Russia and China) to introduce new currencies, Yellen said she expected the dollar to continue to dominate international transactions .
“All the data I know shows that the US dollar dominates international transactions (nearly %), and I don’t think there is any alternative to replace it In the foreseeable future.”
During her visit, Yellen met with senior Chinese officials, including Premier Li Qiang, as well as U.S. companies doing business in China, climate finance experts and female economists.
In the meeting, she urged the two sides to cooperate more on economic and climate issues, while criticizing what she called “punitive actions” against American companies in China.
On Sunday, she reiterated her “serious concerns” about China’s “unfair economic practices” and a recent increase in coercive actions against U.S. companies.
“Healthy economic competition is only sustainable if it benefits both parties,” she said.
Yellen also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine with Chinese interlocutors and said it was “necessary” for Chinese companies to avoid providing war materiel support to Russia or evading sanctions.
Both sides played down expectations for a breakthrough during the talks while welcoming the opportunity for face-to-face diplomacy.
“No visit will solve our challenges overnight. But I expect this visit will help build a resilient and productive line of communication,” Yellen said.
