BEIJING (AP) \u2014 U.S. Treasury Secretary\u00a0Janet Yellen\u00a0and Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed hopes Friday for better communication as Yellen appealed to Beijing not to let frustration over U.S. curbs on technology exports disrupt economic cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both governments used positive terms to describe Yellen\u2019s visit to China\u2019s capital, which was aimed at improving\u00a0strained relations, and stressed the importance of U.S.-China economic ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yellen and Li announced no new plans for more high-level meetings to revive contacts that disputes over technology, security and other irritants have disrupted. Yet, Yellen is the latest of several senior U.S. officials traveling to Beijing to encourage Chinese leaders to revive interactions between the governments of the world\u2019s two largest economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Treasury officials said earlier she wouldn\u2019t meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and no breakthroughs had been expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a one-hour meeting with China\u2019s No. 2 leader, Yellen said Washington and Beijing have a duty to cooperate on issues that affect the world. She appealed for \u201cregular channels of communication\u201d and, more pointedly, for \u201chealthy economic competition,\u201d a reference to complaints that China is stepping up subsidies and market barriers to protect its companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, Yellen defended \u201ctargeted actions,\u201d such as American\u00a0curbs on Chinese access\u00a0to advanced processor chips and other technology, that she said are needed to protect U.S. national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou may disagree,\u201d the Treasury chief said. \u201cBut we should not allow\u00a0any disagreement\u00a0to lead to misunderstandings that needlessly worsen our bilateral economic and financial relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Li said he hoped Washington would \u201cmeet China halfway\u201d but gave no indication of possible changes to Chinese trade and other policies that have irked Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChina\u2019s development is an opportunity rather than a challenge to the United States and a benefit rather than a risk,\u201d Li said, according to a statement from the country\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. \u201cThe two sides should strengthen communication and seek consensus on important issues in the bilateral economic field through candid, in-depth, and pragmatic exchanges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese Finance Ministry called Yellen\u2019s visit a \u201cconcrete measure\u201d toward carrying out an agreement by Xi and President Joe Biden during a meeting in November to improve bilateral relations. The ministry called on Washington to make the next move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe hope the United States will take concrete actions to create a favorable environment for the healthy development of economic and trade relations,\u201d a ministry statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said any major pronouncements on economic agreements would more likely come out of meetings between the nations\u2019 respective presidents, rather than finance ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI see Yellen\u2019s meetings as a positive development and see it as a resumption of the senior level exchanges,\u201d she said. The meetings also \u201cbuild the ground for the potential of having something concrete,\u201d to be agreed upon between world leaders at the September Group of 20 summit in India or Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. curbs on Chinese access to technology threaten to delay or derail the efforts of China\u2019s ruling Communist Party to develop telecommunications, artificial intelligence and other technologies. Xi accused Washington in March of trying to hamper China\u2019s development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing has been slow to retaliate, possibly to avoid disrupting its tech industries. But this week, the government announced unspecified controls on exports of\u00a0gallium and germanium, metals used in making semiconductors and solar panels. The announcement jolted South Korea and other countries that import from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a meeting with businesspeople earlier Friday, Yellen criticized China\u2019s treatment of American companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. and other\u00a0foreign companies\u00a0are uneasy about their status in China following raids on consulting firms, the expansion of a national security law and calls by Xi and other officials for greater self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am communicating the concerns that I\u2019ve heard from the U.S. business community \u2014 including China\u2019s use of non-market tools like expanded subsidies for its state-owned enterprises and domestic firms, and barriers to market access for foreign firms,\u201d Yellen said, according to a transcript released by her department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yellen rejected suggestions Washington is trying to \u201cdecouple,\u201d or separate the U.S. economy from China\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Businesspeople have warned that China and the U.S. might split into separate markets with incompatible products as Beijing and Washington tighten trade controls and tell companies to reduce reliance on each other. They say that would hurt economic growth and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2033I have made clear that the United States does not seek a wholesale separation of our economies,\u201d Yellen told the businesspeople. \u201cA decoupling of the world\u2019s two largest economies would be destabilizing for the global economy, and it would be virtually impossible to undertake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yellen defended U.S. export curbs as \u201cpremised on straightforward national security considerations and not undertaken to gain economic advantage over China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also Friday, Yellen met with the outgoing governor of China\u2019s central bank, Yi Gang, and former Vice Premier Liu He, who previously was her counterpart in finance talks, according to the Treasury Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She is scheduled to meet and have dinner Saturday with Vice Premier He Lifeng, who succeeded Liu as Xi\u2019s main economic aide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretary of State\u00a0Antony Blinken\u00a0met with Xi last month in the highest-level U.S. visit to Beijing in five years. The two agreed to stabilize relations but failed to agree on improving communications between\u00a0their militaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest flareup came after Biden referred to Xi as a\u00a0dictator. The Chinese government protested, but Biden said his blunt statements were \u201cjust not something I\u2019m going to change very much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ties became especially testy after a\u00a0Chinese surveillance balloon\u00a0flew over the United States in February and was shot down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s climate envoy, John Kerry, is due to visit China next week. China and the United States are the world\u2019s top emitters of climate-changing carbon, making whatever steps they take critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing broke off climate discussions with Washington in August in retaliation for a visit by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the House of Representatives to\u00a0Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy claimed by China as part of its territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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