Premier Li urges respect between US and China in talks with Yellen

• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed hope for improved bilateral relations.
• Yellen emphasized the need for direct and open communication to move the relationship forward.
• Both countries agreed to hold talks on balanced growth under an existing working group.

At the start of their Sunday meeting in Beijing, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang sounded a hopeful note on bilateral relations. After arriving in the Chinese capital from the southern city of Guangzhou, Yellen told Li that the US-China relationship can only move forward with direct and open communication.

Li, in welcoming Yellen, said “China sincerely hopes that the two countries will be partners, not adversaries.”

In Guangzhou, Yellen had a series of meetings, including hours of discussions with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng. Since then, both countries have agreed to hold talks on balanced growth under an existing working group, allowing officials to discuss the key US concern of “overcapacity.” Chinese Internet users have closely followed the details of her trip since her appearance in Guangzhou, showing “expectation and hope for the China-US relationship to continue to improve,” Li added.

Washington is especially concerned about this phenomenon in new industries such as electric vehicles and solar energy, where the Chinese government supports industries’ fuel production capacity but risks a surge of exports at depressed prices to the global market, undercutting international competitors.

Yellen’s trip marks her second visit to China in less than a year.

“While we have more to do, I believe that, over the past year, we have put our bilateral relationship on more stable footing,” she said in opening remarks to Premier Li as she begins two days of high-level talks in Beijing.

Yellen stated that instead of ignoring differences, it entails “understanding that progress can only be made if we directly and openly communicate with one another.” She further emphasized that both countries, as the world’s two biggest economies, bear a responsibility to “responsibly manage our complex relationship” and demonstrate leadership in addressing global challenges. On Saturday, the Treasury also disclosed that talks between the United States and Chinese officials would commence under another existing working group for cooperation on tackling money laundering.

The aim is to cut off financing for actors such as drug traffickers, with Washington seeking to collaborate with Beijing to curb supply lines for the production of fentanyl, the synthetic painkiller behind a US overdose epidemic.

Despite the outcomes of meetings so far, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency warned in a commentary about the “specter of protectionism” in the United States. It criticized existing US tariffs on Chinese imports while accusing Washington of “suppressing” China’s electric vehicle-related industries, signaling tensions that remain.

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