US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discussed economic practices and climate change with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Saturday, July 8. Mrs. Yellen’s visit is part of a multi-day trip aimed at easing tensions with rival China.
Washington and Beijing should communicate “directly” on concerns about specific economic practices, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Saturday, urging greater cooperation between the world’s two biggest economies despite fraught ties.
Yellen is on a four-day trip to Beijing, as the United States seeks to cool tensions and stress areas of collaboration between the two countries.
In a meeting Saturday with Vice Premier He Lifeng, she pointed to record bilateral trade last year as proof of just how intertwined they are.
Vice Premier He responded that Beijing regretted that “unexpected incidents” had derailed efforts to improve China-US ties following a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November last year.
Yellen has been keen throughout her visit to emphasise areas where the two powers need to work together — while also defending US moves to “de-risk” its economy from China, as well as tackling what Washington sees as unfair treatment of American businesses.
Cooperation on climate financing “critical”
On Saturday she told a roundtable of experts in China that collaboration between the two powers on climate financing was “critical”.
Saying that “climate finance should be targeted efficiently and effectively”, she pressed China to support existing multilateral institutions like the Green Climate Fund, while urging for the inclusion of the private sector in transitioning towards net zero emissions.
Besides working together on climate, Yellen said in a Friday meeting with Chinese Premier Li that it was also key for Washington and Beijing to closely communicate on global economic and financial affairs while making joint efforts on international challenges such as debt distress.
On Saturday, besides meeting people involved in climate finance, Yellen also spoke with women economists, stressing that the US-China relationship was “rooted in the solid ties” between the American and Chinese people.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
