During a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing, Chinese Premier Li Qiang underlined the need for China and the United States to work as partners instead of rivals, and he urged Washington to “objectively” view China’s production capacity. It is hoped that the U.S. will abide by the basic norms of the market economy, including fair competition and open cooperation, and refrain from turning economic and trade issues into political or security issues, Li said. Regarding the so-called “overcapacity” concerns of Washington, the Premier said the U.S. should view the issue objectively from a market-oriented and global perspective. The development of China’s new energy sector will make significant contributions to the global green and low-carbon transition, he added. Noting that China and the U.S., as the world’s two largest economies, have deeply converging economic interests, Li said that strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation is of great significance for their respective development and also for global economic growth.
Both sides should enhance communication to find ways to manage and resolve differences, and to make China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation stable, smooth and efficient, Li said. The Premier also said that China is willing to strengthen policy coordination with the U.S. in addressing climate change and jointly tackling global challenges.
Secretary Yellen arrived in China on April 4, with her first stop being Guangzhou, Guangdong province, where she met with Vice Premier He Lifeng. Both exchanged views on the macroeconomic situations of the two countries and the world, as well as China-U.S. economic relations and global challenges. Yellen’s China visit follows a phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, in which both sides agreed to strengthen dialogue, manage differences, promote cooperation and work toward the stable development of bilateral ties. Secretary Yellen told Premier Li that the U.S. does not seek decoupling from China, and is willing to engage in candid communication to avoid misunderstandings.
Zhang Monan, Deputy Director of the Institute of American and European Studies at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said the U.S. has pursued a policy of containment and suppression of China as a strategic competitor in recent years. Yet bilateral economic and trade ties are deeply integrated, and even if the U.S. intends to reduce its dependence on China, the connections cannot be severed, she said. “Most industries in the U.S. are poised to enter a restocking cycle this year, and import demand is expected to expand in consumer electronics, furniture, building materials, food, agricultural products, textiles, clothing and other goods,” Zhang said. “At the same time, China’s strategy of expanding domestic demand and advancing high-level opening-up will further unleash the potential of its ultra-large market, which will help strengthen its economic and trade ties with the U.S.,” she added. Zhang also said the top priority for the two countries to improve economic and trade ties should be to repeal the extra U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, the China Daily reports.
