US, China agree to regular talks on economy

by Tara Suter - 09/22/23 11:18 AM ET

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen takes questions from journalists during a press conference, at the G-7 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, at Toki Messe in Niigata, Japan, May 11, 2023. Leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies are generally united in voicing concern about China. The question is how to translate that worry into action. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, Pool, File)

The U.S. on Friday announced the creation of two economic working groups with China as part of bilateral efforts to cool tensions between the two countries.

The groups will be led by the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the U.S. Treasury Department and the People’s Bank of China and headed up by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice Premier He Lifeng, according to a press release from the Treasury.

The groups will meet at a “regular cadence” and are aimed at allowing “for frank and substantive discussions on economic and financial policy matters, as well as an exchange of information on macroeconomic and financial developments,” the release said.

Even as tensions flare over Taiwan and South China Sea trading routes, the Biden administration has sought to play down its rivalry with Beijing. President Joe Biden said the U.S. is “not looking to hurt China” while on a trip in Vietnam earlier this month.

“We’re all better off if China does well, if China does well by the international rules,” Biden said.

The White House also asked America’s ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, to back off his social media posts poking Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese government officials, NBC News reported this week. National Security Council officials reportedly warned embassy staff that the posts could jeopardize attempts by the Biden administration to repair rocky relations with China.

Yellen has been among a number of senior administration officials to visit China or hold high-level meetings to find areas of cooperation, like climate change and artificial intelligence.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met in Europe last weekend with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a sign of improving communications between the countries.

Yellen made a trip to China in July, urging the two countries to find a path that did not lead to conflict. She also played down the idea that the U.S. was seeking to “decouple” its economy from China.

“There is an important distinction between decoupling, on the one hand, and on the other hand, diversifying critical supply chains or taking targeted national security actions,” she said at the time.