TMTPost -- China and U.S. held high-level talks on economic and financial stability amid tense trade tensions between the world』s top two economies.
Credit：Xinhua News Agency
A group of senior U.S. officials travelled to Shanghai for a meeting the China-US Financial Working Group (FWG) from August 15 to 16, multiple media outlets including Bloomberg and the New York Times reported recently. This is fifth meeting of FWG since its establishment last November and the first one in four months. There was no official information released about the reported meeting in Shanghai as of press time. The previous meeting as well as the first round in China was held shortly after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrapped up a high-stakes six-day visit to China in April.
The U.S. delegation, led by Brent Neiman, the U.S. Treasury Department's assistant secretary for international finance, was reported to meet with senior Chinese officials including Xuan Changneng, deputy head of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), the central bank. Officials from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also reportedly joined in the meeting this week.
Bloomberg quoted a U.S. Treasury Department spokesperson that the talks focus on issues including macroeconomic and financial stability, governance of the International Monetary Fund and capital markets issues. "We intend for this FWG meeting to include conversations on financial stability, issues related to cross-border data, lending, and payments, private sector efforts to advance transition finance, and concrete steps we can take to improve communication in the event of financial stress," the New York Times cited Neiman.
Neiman added that the gathering of U.S. and Chinese economic officials builds on President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's "guidance to establish durable lines of communication as we responsibly manage our relationship" with Beijing. Officials are also expected to discuss possible revisions of China's anti-money laundering law, according to the Treasury.
"It should be self-evident to both US and China leadership that dialogues between the US and China at a high level and under the auspices of the US-China Financial Working Group benefit the two countries with the largest economies in the world," Charles Foster, vice-chairman of the George H. W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations, told China Daily.
"Working successfully together in areas where both countries have mutual interests can only be confidence-building measures that may allow the US and China to work together to resolve our differences in other areas where there are significant differences between our two countries," Foster said.
Chinese officials are expected to express concerns over US' growing economic and trade restrictions against China and urge the US to stop politicizing trade issues, state-backed newspaper the Global Times reported, citing Chinese experts. While the new round of talks will send a positive signal at the world's biggest economies are continuing communications amid growing tension, Beijing will firmly push back against U.S. crackdowns and steadfastly promote high-quality development at its own pace, these experts said.
"The US is pursuing talks with China due to domestic political and economic pressures, but it is not abandoning its long-term goal of containing China," He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times. "We need to understand this and work to further stabilize bilateral ties."