‘Significant consequences’ if Chinese firms help Russia’s war in Ukraine, US’s Yellen warns – POLITICO

“We have made it clear to China that we view Russia as benefiting from the support of the goods that China and Chinese companies supply to Russia,” Yellen told reporters in Guangzhou.

“Neither of us wants this to be a problem in our bilateral relations. So we are working together,” she added.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, Beijing’s ties with Moscow have become even stronger than before the conflict, with trade between the two countries more than doubling from $108 billion in 2020 to $240 billion in 2023, making Russia China’s 10th largest trading partner last year. .

China is also trying to expand its market share of goods shipped to Europe and the United States. Beijing therefore also has an interest in maintaining good relations with the West. But the United States is increasingly concerned about cheap electric vehicles, batteries and other technologies flooding the American market, despite Washington’s subsidies to its own industry, which is suffering from Chinese competition.

Yellen’s talks in China on Friday and Saturday were intended to “facilitate a discussion on macroeconomic imbalances, including their link to overcapacity,” Yellen said in a statement. “I intend to use this opportunity to advocate for a level playing field for American workers and businesses,” she added.

Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the United States, responded that the claim of overcapacity is “untenable” because “on a global scale, high-quality industrial capacity and new-quality productive forces are not available.” excessive, but are sorely lacking,” he said. in an article on defining as “a good thing” that China “can help the international community achieve the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals of the Paris Agreement”.