US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellenmet in Beijing with the Chinese vice-premier responsible for economic policy, He Lifeng, before whom he acknowledged that both countries compete with each other “but they must do so under certain rules.”
“I think that China and United StatesThey compete with each other but they must do so under certain rules, and that will benefit both,” said the Treasury secretary, who has been on an official visit to China for two days.
Yellen added that Washington has “concerns” about “some practices” in China’s economy and that he hopes “it can correct them appropriately.”
“I think both powers they can interact and work together despite the tensions, because there is room for greater trade and greater bilateral investment,” he said.
He also pointed out that the world faces great challenges, from the Economic recovery to climate change, and that it is the duty of both to “address” them.
He, who replaced Liu He in March as one of the main architects of the Asian country’s economy, considered that the two countries must continue to seek “mutual understanding” to overcome their disagreements.
“As the Chinese president expressed, Xi Jinpingthe world is big enough for both countries to benefit from it,” he said.
Yellen’s trip to China, which ends on Sunday, comes two weeks after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Beijing, and is yet another attempt to de-escalate tension between the two powers.
On Friday, Yellen told Chinese Premier Li Qiang that the US is seeking a “healthy economic competition” with China, although he asserted that Washington will take in some cases “measures to protect its national security”, a phrase that he repeated today before He.
However, the US representative assured that her trip seeks “deepen in constructive efforts” so that both countries can “address global challenges” and “macroeconomic stability.”
For his part, the Chinese prime minister assured that the good relationship between the two powers could determine “the future and destiny of humanity”.
In addition, Li said that China hopes that relations “get back on track” in the near future, and asserted that both nations should “strengthen communication” in relation to economic talks through “sincere and stable exchanges.”
The visit comes months after Washington impose restrictions on the export of American-made semiconductors and materials, a move intended to limit Beijing’s ability to make parts needed to power supercomputers or advanced military systems.
Although there has been no official confirmation, the Wall Street Journal published days ago that the United States is considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China.
This Monday, Beijing counterattacked by announcing restrictions on the export of gallium and germanium, two key metals for the manufacture of semiconductors, a product that is at the center of commercial and technological tensions between the two.