US treasury chief to meet with executives, senior officials as businesses seek stable China ties

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the 2025 budget on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, the US on March 21, 2024. (PHOTO / REUTERS)

China and the United States are expected to exert more joint efforts to improve bilateral economic and trade ties, make positive contributions to economic globalization, and address common challenges — as hoped for by businesses from both sides — experts said on April 3.

They also said the two sides could deepen cooperation in a wide range of areas, from responding to climate change to coordinating macroeconomic policy.

Their comments came as the Ministry of Finance said on April 3 that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen would visit China from April 4 to 9, as agreed by the two countries.

She arrived in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on April 4. During her stay in China, Yellen will meet with representatives of the US business community in China, students and professors at Peking University, economists, and high-ranking Chinese officials, the US Department of the Treasury said.

“Compared with many other US officials, Yellen knows China better, with direct experiences, and she must have seen the huge cooperation potential between the two countries amid China’s continuous economic development,” said Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC).

“Businesses from both countries are very eager to see more cooperation between the two countries because that will reduce uncertainties for investment and trade activities as well as promote innovation and coordination to jointly address common issues globally, such as climate change.

“We hope both China and the US will respond positively to such market expectations and push forward cooperation,” Zhou said.

Cui Fan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said: “Strengthening communication to seek more consensus, instead of decoupling, underpins the interests of both countries.

“Stable and healthy China-US economic and trade relations will help address common global issues and stabilize global economic growth.”

Cui said the two countries could strengthen communication to better deal with challenges and pressures from issues such as climate change, the debt risks of some developing countries, and taxation reforms against the background of the development of the digital economy.

He said the smooth operation of the communication mechanisms between the two countries will help address their respective concerns.

Zhou, from CAITEC, said there is broad space for China and the US to deepen cooperation and coordinate policies.

“The two countries can seek more cooperation in fields including global debt relief and government procurement, and reduce the impact on the market from information asymmetry,” he said.

Zhou said the US should expand access to US government-backed projects for Chinese enterprises and reduce development costs for enterprises based on the principle of nondiscrimination to strengthen the resilience of supply chains.

Yellen’s trip comes soon after President Xi Jinping and United States President Joe Biden held their first phone conversation since their landmark face-to-face meeting last November in San Francisco. As the two sides agreed, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also to visit China in the near future.

The detailed consensus reached during the latest interaction between the two heads of state set out tasks to be accomplished this year, and underlined the need for China and the US to avoid potential major frustrations, observers said.

So far, Xi and Biden have held two face-to-face meetings, including one in Bali, Indonesia, in 2022, and five phone conversations.

During their April 2 phone call, Xi underlined three overarching principles that should guide China-US relations in 2024 — valuing peace, prioritizing stability, and upholding credibility.

Urging the two countries to honor their pledges with actions and transform the San Francisco vision into reality, Xi told Biden that the issue of strategic perception is always fundamental to the China-US relationship.

The two countries should respect each other, coexist in peace, and pursue win-win cooperation, and the relationship should continue to move forward in a stable, sound, and sustainable way, instead of going backward, Xi added.

Diao Daming, a professor of US studies at Renmin University of China’s School of International Relations, said that while last year’s San Francisco summit set the tone for Sino-US relations, the phone call took the ties one step further as it tapped the huge influence of head-of-state diplomacy to help effectively stabilize the relationship.

“If the US can fulfill the three major principles proposed by President Xi ... and work toward the same goal with China, the relationship is expected to remain stable this year,” he added.

Experts said that Beijing aims to make Washington fully realize the seriousness of issues, including the US’ suppression of Chinese companies, the Taiwan Strait situation, and South China Sea concerns, have a correct perception of China-US relations, and further manage potential risks.

During his phone conversation with Biden, Xi mentioned that “the negative factors” related to the China-US relationship “have also been growing”, and this requires attention from both sides.

Diao said: “This fully reflects Beijing’s clear-eyed judgment of the current relationship as well as its sense of duty toward the relationship. The recent wrong practices of the US have failed some of the commitments it made.”

During his recent visit to China, former US secretary of commerce Carlos Gutierrez rebutted claims that the two countries are destined for confrontation.

“We are not enemies. We compete, we disagree, (and) that’s fine — friends disagree. But we cannot allow this to evolve, to turn into animosity,” he told Chinese reporters.

“I believe our destiny is to be closer, is to be friends, is to be collaborators, is to help develop a better world for everyone, not just for our own two peoples … When that day comes, I think it will be an era of peace and prosperity for the world.”

Contact the writers at liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn