Yellen in China: “Frank and Productive Meeting”

“Frank and productive” was the description of the April 7 meeting in Beijing between Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. The meeting followed “progress made” by Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping during talks held in San Francisco in November 2023.

“The meeting was frank and productive and builds on the progress made by President Biden and President Xi Jinping at the Woodside Summit last November to deepen bilateral discussions,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement. “The US Treasury Secretary expressed her views on the common goal of a healthy economic relationship that provides a level playing field for workers and businesses in both the USA and China. She also raised troubling issues, including China’s industrial overcapacity and the impact it could have on American workers and businesses.”

Yellen and Li also discussed the importance of joint work on global issues, “including the debt crisis in low-income and developing countries.”

According to Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese Premier emphasized that the two countries, being the world’s largest economies, have deeply intertwined economic interests, and “strengthening trade and economic cooperation is of great significance to the mutual development and growth of the world economy,” therefore the two sides should strengthen communication to jointly find ways of managing and resolving differences, so as to make economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States stable, smooth, and efficient.

Li also added that he hopes “the United States will adhere to the basic norms of market economy, including fair competition and open cooperation, refrain from turning economic and trade issues into political or security issues, and address the issues of production capacity.”