Yellen eyes China trip after ‘constructive’ meeting with top Chinese official – Asia and Pacific

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to China soon, following “constructive” discussions with her Chinese counterpart Wednesday, Washington said, as the two countries seek to boost ties and reduce tensions.

The first face-to-face meeting between Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, held in Zurich, was “candid, substantive and constructive”, the US treasury department said in a statement.

“Both sides agreed it is important for the functioning of the global economy to further enhance communication around macroeconomic and financial issues,” and also agreed to “enhance cooperation on climate finance,” it added.

Following the “frank exchange of views,” it said that Yellen “looks forward to travelling to China and to welcoming her counterparts to the United States in the near future.”

The Chinese side also hailed the meeting, with state news agency Xinhua describing the talks as “constructive”, and the exchanges between Liu and Yellen as “in-depth, candid and practical.”

Liu, it reported, had said Yellen was welcome to visit his country “at an appropriate time this year”.

That announcement came just a day after it was confirmed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would make a long-awaited trip to Beijing on February 5-6.

He will be the first US secretary of state to travel to China since a brief visit in October 2018 by his Republican predecessor Mike Pompeo, known for his blistering criticism of Beijing. 

The planned visits will occur amid heightened diplomatic efforts to keep tensions between the two behemoths in check.

In a statement, the Treasury said both sides agreed to enhance cooperation on climate finance on a bilateral and multilateral basis, such as within the United Nations, Group of 20 economies and APEC. 

“While we have areas of disagreement, and we will convey them directly, we should not allow misunderstandings, particularly those stemming from a lack of communication, to unnecessarily worsen our bilateral economic and financial relationship,” Yellen said at the start of the meeting.

A senior Treasury official said that, during the meeting, which lasted nearly three hours, Yellen and Liu agreed that both countries could take steps to avert recessions in their own economies, and the two delegations had a productive discussion about sovereign debt issues, food security and energy. 

On economic prospects, Chinese officials were aware of financial risks posed by the property sector but were optimistic about resuming closer to normal growth, the official said of the meeting, the first in person since Yellen became secretary.

The China side expressed concern over US economic, trade and technological policies towards China and its hope that the U.S. will pay attention to how such policies were affecting both countries, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. 

“China welcomes Yellen to visit China at an appropriate time this year. Both countries agreed that their economic and trade teams will continue to maintain communications and exchanges at all levels,” it said. 

Washington in October imposed export controls on China to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances, including measures to curb China’s access to US chipmaking tools and cut it off from certain chips made anywhere in the world with American equipment.