Officials from United States-China Meet, Discuss More Cooperation
- Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP.
VIVA – Treasury Secretary from the United States, Janet Yellen, met the Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Liu He on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. This meeting is part of efforts to deepen communication, do more cooperation, and work together to manage differences and prevent competition that’s close to conflict.
Yellen’s first face-to-face meeting with Vice Premier Liu He in Zurich is the highest-ranking contact between the two countries since their presidents agreed last November during their first in-person meeting to look for areas of potential cooperation.
Liu said he was ready to work together to seek common ground between China and the U.S. “No matter how circumstances change, we should always maintain dialogue and exchanges,” he said, as quoted from AP site.
Menteri Keuangan AS, Janet Yellen, bertemu dengan wakil PM China, Liu He.
- Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP.
On the other hand, the US Treasury Department from the 2 1/2-hour meeting said that the two agreed to cooperate more on issues around financing to combat climate change and work together to support developing countries in the clean energy transition.
The statement also pointed to Yellen's plans to travel to China, and welcome her US counterparts soon. For information, the meeting comes as the US and Chinese economies grapple with different but interrelated challenges in trade, technology, and more.
“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 in a statement.
Liu expressed concern over U.S. economic, trade, and technology policies toward China and said he hoped the United States would pay attention to the impact of those policies on both sides.
He also called for earnest communication and said both sides should look at the bigger picture, and try to manage disputes well to maintain stable relations.
"Both countries have the responsibility to manage our differences and prevent competition from becoming something close to conflict," Liu said.
Previously, China's economy reopened after a resurgence of COVID-19 that killed tens of thousands of people and closed many businesses. The US is also slowly recovering from the highest inflation in 40 years and is on track to reach its mandatory debt ceiling, setting up a political showdown between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
