Yellen to Visit China for Top-Level Economic Talks
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen will make her second trip to China this week for high-level talks aimed at further stabilizing the relationship between the world’s largest economies as political rancor in the United States intensifies ahead of the presidential election.
During four days of meetings in Guangzhou and Beijing, Ms. Yellen plans to meet with representatives from American companies, Chinese students and professors and China’s top economic officials. The trip comes as the Biden administration tries to balance a tougher stance toward China, including restricting access to American technology and retaining tariffs on billions of Chinese exports, while keeping regular lines of communication open and avoiding an economic war.
A senior Treasury Department official who previewed Ms. Yellen’s trip said that it was taking place in the spirit of responsibly managing the economic relationship between the countries.
But concerns are growing within the administration over China’s strategy of ramping up exports of green energy technology like solar panels and electric batteries.
The official said that the two sides are expected to have “frank” conversations about the Biden administration’s concerns about the impact of China’s excess industrial production on global supply chains for solar technology, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries. They are also expected to discuss the global economy, efforts to curb drug trafficking and how to work together to fight climate change.
In China, Ms. Yellen will meet with Wang Weizhong, the governor of Guangdong Province; Vice Premier He Lifeng; former Vice Premier Liu He; and Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People’s Bank of China.