Secretary Yellen Visits China to Stabilize US-China Relationship
Treasury Secretary Yellen’s visit to Beijing aims to stabilize the US-China relationship, the world’s two largest economies, amid rising tensions.
- Yellen will meet with senior Chinese officials during her visit from July 6th to the 9th.
- The US has been reducing its reliance on Chinese imports and limiting China’s access to critical technologies.
- Yellen will discuss global challenges, mutual concerns, and specific issues like China’s ban on Micron Technology and human rights violations in Xinjiang.
Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen will travel to Beijing from July 6th till the 9th for meetings with senior Chinese officials. This anticipated visit aims to stabilize the US-China relationship, the world’s two largest economies, as tensions between the two countries have been rising.
The U.S. has been taking steps to limit its reliance on China for some time now. Actually, it is reducing its reliance on Chinese imports and limiting China’s access to sensitive technologies such as semiconductors, robotics, and artificial intelligence capabilities.
The Biden administration has imposed restrictions on China’s access to advanced technology, citing national security concerns. The administration is also preparing new investment restrictions to limit American dollars used to finance the development of advanced technologies within China. Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese imports remain in place for now.
Both countries have expressed frustrations with each other’s actions. The United States is frustrated with China’s reluctance to allow debt restructuring for poor countries and its weakening currency, which makes Chinese exports more competitive. China, on the other hand, is concerned about the United States’ efforts to reorient its supply chain away from China and toward other countries it considers allies.
During her visit, Yellen is expected to discuss global challenges and mutual areas of concern with top Chinese officials and American companies doing business in China. Some specific topics of discussion may include China’s recent ban on Micron Technology, a U.S.-based manufacturer of memory chips, concerns about human rights violations in Xinjiang, and China’s new counterespionage law and its implications for foreign companies.
Yellen aims to emphasize that the US’s actions to reduce reliance on China and protect national security are not intended to completely separate the two economies but to establish a more balanced and competitive US-China relationship. She has expressed the importance of dialogue and understanding between the two powerhouses.
In an interview with MSNBC last Thursday, she suggested that “healthy competition” could benefit workers and businesses in both countries. “My hope in traveling to China is to re-establish contact,” Yellen said. “There are a new group of leaders, we need to get to know one another.” She goes on to add that the two nations “need to discuss our disagreements with one another so that we don’t have misunderstandings, don’t misunderstand one another’s intentions.”
Yellen’s visit is the second high-level visit between the United States and China in recent weeks. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China in June, and the two countries have also held a series of lower-level talks.
Beijing has indicated the importance it attaches to Yellen’s visit by appointing a new Communist Party secretary, Pan Gongsheng, to lead the country’s central bank. Yellen and her team are expected to seek insights into the Chinese economy, which has become increasingly opaque in recent years.
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