Yellen seeks stability in 1st meeting with China

NUSA DUA – US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday sought to stabilize ties between the world’s two largest economies as she held her first in-person meeting with a senior Chinese official.

Yellen met Yi Gang, governor of the central People’s Bank of China, at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, where two days earlier US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met for three hours in a bid to tame high tensions.

Yellen and Yi “discussed global macroeconomic and financial developments, including the challenges of high and volatile energy and commodity prices, and exchanged views on the macroeconomic outlook in the United States and China,” the Treasury Department said.

In an interview with The New York Times ahead of the talks, Yellen said she would explain to Yi issues that have raised concerns in China including the Biden administration’s push to restrict exports of sensitive technology.

She told the newspaper she would focus on “stabilizing the relationship and trying to get it on a better footing while recognizing that we have a whole range of concerns”.

Xi, in an address to the summit on Tuesday, called on wealthy nations to “reduce the negative spillover effects” of their monetary policies.

While he did not single out the United States, the US Federal Reserve has moved aggressively to raise interest rates in response to high inflation, driving a strong dollar and putting pressure on nations that rely on exports.