China, US must communicate on 'significant disagreements', says Janet Yellen

As her four-day trip to Beijing came to an end, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said 10 hours of bilateral sessions with senior Chinese officials in recent days were “direct” and “productive,” and helped stabilise the frequently turbulent relationship.

Yellen, who is leaving Beijing on Sunday, told a news conference that the US and China have major issues that must be conveyed “clearly and directly.”

“The US and China have significant disagreements,” Yellen told reporters at the US embassy in Beijing.

“But 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.”

Yellen said the objective of the visit was to establish and deepen ties to China’s new economic team, reduce the risk of misunderstanding and pave the way for cooperation in areas such as climate change and debt distress.

She reiterated that Washington was not seeking to decouple from China’s economy, adding doing so would be “disastrous for both countries and destabilising for the world.”

But she said the United States wanted to see an “open, free and fair economy,” not one that forces countries to take sides.

Yellen’s visit has also included talks with climate finance experts, women economists and senior officials including Premier Li Qiang.

In her meetings, she has urged more cooperation between the sides on economic and climate issues while criticising what she called “punitive actions” against US companies in China.

On Sunday, she reiterated she had raised “serious concerns” about what she called China’s “unfair economic practices” and a recent uptick in coercive actions against US firms.

“Healthy economic competition is only sustainable if it benefits both sides,” she said.

Yellen also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine with her Chinese interlocutors and said it was “essential” that Chinese firms avoid providing Russia with material support for the war, or evading sanctions.

Both sides have downplayed expectations for breakthroughs during the talks while hailing the opportunity for face-to-face diplomacy.

Yellen’s trip follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing last month, the first visit by the top US diplomat of the Biden presidency, while climate envoy John Kerry is expected to visit China this month.

The US diplomatic push comes ahead of a possible meeting between President Biden and Xi as soon as September’s Group of 20 summit in New Delhi or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering scheduled for November in San Francisco.

“No one visit will solve our challenges overnight. But I expect that this trip will help build a resilient and productive channel of communication,” Yellen said.