U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, center, waits with others to receive Chinese President Xi Jinping at San Francisco International Airport on November 14, 2023, ahead of Xi’s meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.
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BEIJING — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was scheduled to arrive in China on Thursday ahead of four full days of meetings with Chinese officials.
This is his second trip to the country since the summer, as the United States and China seek to increase high-level communication in an otherwise tense relationship. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also expected to visit China again later this year.
“I think we hope that at the higher levels, and increasingly at all levels, we will continue an ongoing and in-depth dialogue. We have spent too much time with too little communication and misunderstandings have arisen,” said Yellen to reporters before her arrival. China.
His trip will cover the southern city of Guangzhou – the capital of China’s export-heavy Guangdong province – and the national capital of Beijing, according to a press release.
Here is his full meeting itinerary:
- Friday April 5 — meet with Vice Premier He Lifeng, Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong, economic experts and trade representatives from AmCham China
- Saturday April 6 — continue meetings with Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng
- Sunday April 7 — meet with Premier Li Qiang, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an, Beijing Mayor Yin Yong, prominent Chinese economists and students and professors from Peking University
- Monday April 8 — meet former Vice Premier Liu He and People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng
What will they talk about?
According to the Treasury, Yellen will discuss “unfair trade practices and highlight the global economic consequences of Chinese industrial overcapacity.”
China faces growing global scrutiny over how the country’s focus on building its manufacturing capabilities, including the use of subsidies and policy support to do so, has helped Chinese companies to sell products such as solar panels at prices much lower than those of manufacturers in other countries. .
In March, European Union Chamber of Commerce President Jens Eskelund said trade tensions between the EU and China were likely to intensify.
Guangdong is by far China’s leading province in terms of export value, according to Wind Information.
The province exported nearly 5.4 trillion yuan ($750 billion) of manufactured goods last year, with equipment accounting for two-thirds, according to Tu Gaokun, director of the industry and information technology department. from Guangdong.
He told reporters last week the province was “committed” to improving productivity, and highlighted how it aimed to develop sectors such as new energy storage, biomanufacturing and commercial aviation.
Fight against “illicit finance”
During her meetings in China, Yellen will also “work to expand bilateral cooperation in combating illicit financing, which can lead to important progress in joint efforts against criminal activities such as drug trafficking and fraud.” “, Treasury said.
He added that Yellen would discuss work to strengthen financial stability, combat climate change and resolve debt distress in developing countries.
The trip will mark Yellen’s third meeting with Vice Prime Minister He Lifeng, whom the Treasury Secretary is also expected to meet later this month at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Washington, DC. DC.
He Lifeng is also director of the office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, a position previously held by Liu.
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