BEIJING: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Saturday urged closer communication between China and the United States to improve economic decision-making, and challenged China to join global initiatives to help poorer nations address climate change.

Despite bilateral tensions, record high US-Chinese trade last year showed there was “ample room” to engage in trade and investment, and it was critical to focus on areas of common interest and address disagreements through dialogue, Yellen told Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at the start of a meeting.

The talks lasted for about five hours, followed by a formal dinner, according to a Treasury official.

Chinese state media described the meeting as “in-depth, candid and pragmatic”. Treasury said the meeting was “candid, constructive, and comprehensive.”

Washington told that generalising concept of national security does no good for normal economic and trade exchanges

State-run Xinhua news agency said the talks were “constructive”, but the Chinese side expressed concern about US sanctions and restrictive measures against China.

China also believes that generalising the concept of national security does no good for normal economic and trade exchanges, Xinhua reported.

Treasury said Yellen also conveyed that “even when the United States and China have disagreements, it is vital that the two countries find ways to work together on issues of shared and global concern, including debt distress in low-income and emerging economies and climate finance.” Yellen also met with the Peoples Bank of China’s Communist Party chief Pan Gongsheng on Friday, discussing global macroeconomic and financial developments, including the disproportionate impact of recent economic shocks on low-income countries, Treasury said.

Yellen’s visit through Sunday is Washington’s latest attempt to repair ties between the world’s two biggest economies, battered over issues from Taiwan to technology that have drawn their allies into their rivalry, having an impact on companies and trade ties.

Like US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited last month for the first time in Joe Biden’s presidency, Yellen is seeking a delicate balance between conciliation and continuing to push Beijing to halt practices Washington says are harmful to US and Western companies. Both sides have downplayed expectations for breakthroughs, while hailing the opportunity for candid, face-to-face diplomacy.

“Amid a complicated global economic outlook, there is a pressing need for the two largest economies to closely communicate and exchange views on our responses to various challenges,” Yellen told He, China’s recently appointed economy czar.

Doing so could “help both sides more fully understand the global economic outlook and make better decisions to strengthen our economies”, she said.

At the same time, Yellen reiterated Washington wanted to ensure healthy competition with a “fair set of rules” that would benefit both countries over time.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2023