BEIJING: Chinese Premier Li Qiang and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signaled a hopeful note on bilateral ties at the start of their meeting on Sunday.
The US-China ties can only move forward with open and direct communication, Yellen told Li, following arriving in Beijing from Guangzhou. Premier Li, in welcoming Yellen, stated that Beijing sincerely hopes that the two sides will be partners, not adversaries.
He said that Internet users in China have closely followed the details of her visit since her appearance in Guangzhou, showing “hope and expectation for Sino-US ties to continue to enhance.”
In Guangzhou, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had a series of meetings including hours of talks and debate with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Both sides have since agreed to hold meeting on balanced growth under the current working group, permitting officials to discuss the key Washington’s concern of overcapacity. Yellen’s visit marks her second trip to Beijing in less than a year.
She said that they have more to do and believed that, over the last year, they have put their bilateral ties on more stable footing. This was stated by Yellen in her opening remarks to Premier Li as she starts two days of high-level talks in Chinese capital Beijing. She said that both nations — the world’s two major economies — have an obligation to responsibly manage their complex ties and show leadership when it comes to working on international challenges.
Earlier, on Saturday, the Treasury made an announcement that officials from the US and China would start talks under another existing working group for cooperation on addressing money laundering.
The US has been seeking to work with China to restraint supply lines for the production of fentanyl.
Despite the outcomes of meetings so far, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency criticized current US tariffs on China’s imports, while blaming Washington of overturning China’s electric vehicle-related industries, hinting at tensions that remain.
