And Li reportedly reminded Yellen that presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden reached a consensus in Bali last year, regarding the importance of mutual respect and win-win cooperation.
“It is hoped that the US side will take a practical and sensible approach and work with China to get China-US relations back on the right track,” Li was quoted by CCTV as saying. “Strengthening cooperation is a real need and the right choice.
“Both sides should have candid communication on important economic and related issues and seek a consensus, injecting positive energy and stability into China-US economic relations.”
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attends a business round table in Beijing with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. Photo: AFP
Yellen also called for a shift to market reforms in China, and highlighted US concerns over China’s use of “non-market” tools that include subsidies for state-owned enterprises and domestic firms, along with barriers to market access for foreign firms.
US restrictions on China’s access to chip technology are designed to be “narrowly targeted”, are based on “straightforward national security considerations”, and are not intended to gain an economic advantage over China, Yellen added.
Yellen also met with central bank governor Yi Gang and former economic tsar Liu He on Friday, according to a report by Reuters, citing an unnamed US Treasury official.
The Post reported last month that former vice-premier Liu was still being regularly consulted on important financial and economic affairs – particularly on issues related to the US.
Yellen is the most senior US official to visit Beijing following Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s fence-mending trip in June, when he met Xi and senior diplomats, including Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs.
It has also been reported that US climate change envoy John Kerry will visit China next week, while expectations are high for US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to meet her counterparts in Beijing.
The primary objective of Yellen’s four-day visit to China, which started on Thursday, is to ease tensions between the two sides, although expectations are low that it will result in the resolution of many differences.
Ahead of Yellen’s trip, China stepped up its response to US chip curbs by launching new export controls on two metals key to semiconductor manufacturing.
In May, China also banned US chip giant Micron Technology from selling its chips to key infrastructure projects, citing national security risks.
And in March, Chinese authorities raided the office of US corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group in Beijing and detained five local staff.
Xi and Biden had agreed to hold further discussions to stabilise China-US relations during their meeting at the G20 summit in Bali.
But relations soured again in February after Washington accused Beijing of operating a spy balloon over sensitive locations housing nuclear weapons in Montana.
China denied the allegations, saying that it was a “civilian airship” that had deviated from its planned route.
The balloon was later shot down by a US fighter jet, but the dispute caused Blinken to postpone his visit to China until last month.
South China Morning Post
