US Treasury Secretary to return to China to continue 'economic dialogue' with top Chinese officials

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will return to China this week to continue her economic dialogue with top Chinese officials amid a new emphasis on the global threat posed by the Asian superpower's growing excess industrial capacity, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.

The April 3-9 trip, which will be Yellen's second in-person visit to China since July 2023, will include a stop in the southern factory hub of Guangzhou before Beijing.

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled on Tuesday to hold their first direct talks since November, in a call in which the US leader will seek to ease tensions over Taiwan's presidential inauguration in May.

Biden administration officials said that both Biden and Yellen will be emphasizing the need for China to create a "fair and level playing field" for US workers and companies.

In Guangzhou, Yellen will meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Guangdong Province Governor Wang Weizhong and executives of US companies in China, the Treasury Department said. She will hear first-hand about business climate challenges that are prompting US firms to limit their investment in China.

Yellen last met with He, her main Chinese economic counterpart, in November 2023, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco, where Biden also met with Xi.

Since Yellen's first visit to Beijing last July, she and He have launched economic and financial working groups that meet virtually. The dialogue so far has been largely focused on discussing key economic issues facing each country and their respective policy responses, such as the property market troubles in China that have undermined consumer confidence, or the failures of two major U.S. regional banks last year.

US Treasury officials also have used the dialogue to explain that US national security restrictions on semiconductors and US investment into China will be narrowly targeted.

Reuters