A 'step forward' in China–US relations
We believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive, said US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen after four days of intensive talks with Chinese officials in Beijing.
A 'step forward' in China–US relations
Geurasia

A 'step forward' in China–US relations

Photo: AFP/Mark Schiefelbein
Joakim Scheffer 10/07/2023 13:00

We believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive, said US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen after four days of intensive talks with Chinese officials in Beijing.

President [Joe] Biden and I do not see the relationship between the US and China through the frame of great power conflict. We believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive, said US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen before leaving China on Sunday after four days of intensive talks with Chinese officials, The Guardian reported. Yellen travelled to China on Thursday with the goal of ease tensions and open up communication channels between the to major power. 

"I expect that this trip will help build a resilient and productive channel of communication,” Yellen said at a press conference before returning home on Sunday. Yellen said despite “significant disagreements” between the two countries, the US did not view its economic might as a weapon to be deployed against China. 

Trade and close ties between the two countries was vital for global prosperity, she added. “We know the decoupling of the world’s two largest economies would be disastrous for both countries and destabilising for the world. And it would be virtually impossible to undertake.”
AFP/Mark Schiefelbein
“China’s development is an opportunity, rather than a challenge, to the US. It means benefits, not risks,” the Chinese Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday to wrap up China’s position in the talks with Yellen during her four-day visit, according to South China Morning Post. 

“During the talks, China reiterated its requests for the US to remove tariffs, stop containing Chinese companies, ensure fair treatment in bilateral investment, loosen export controls, and lift bans on Xinjiang-related products,” the ministry statement said. “China hopes the US will take concrete measures in response to [Beijing’s] major concerns in bilateral economic relations.

“It is practical, and the correct choice, to beef up bilateral cooperation.”, the site added.

The US has put more than 1,000 Chinese companies on sanction lists or under export controls, and is mulling new restrictions on US investment in China. Beijing has repeatedly lashed out at Washington’s abuses of national security, and broad bilateral relations have plumbed new lows in recent years amid a raft of hot-button issues, including tech restrictions, national security, human rights and Taiwan.

“Confronted with severe global challenges, China hopes developed countries including the US will take on responsibilities, and be mindful of concerns in the developing world,” the statement of the Ministry of Finance added. “Differences should not lead to estrangement but should serve as the impetus for closer exchange and communication.”

AFP/Leah Millis

From the perspective of the broader global community, Yellen’s visit — coming weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing — offers an image of responsible engagement at a time when many nations are deeply opposed to having to choose sides in any new Cold War, Bloomberg noted.

Yellen’s language in Beijing “sent a very strong signal to the business and international community, and to the rest of the world, that the US and China should work together,” said Henry Wang, founder of the Center for China and Globalization, a policy research group in Beijing.

The US and China have been stepping up efforts to boost influence in the so-called Global South. Yellen will have an opportunity to allude to the newly reinstated high-level engagement with China when she meets with fellow finance chiefs from the Group of 20 emerging and developed nations in India this month. 

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