US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held their first in-person meeting in Zurich on January 18, 2023.
Sebastian Bozon | afp | Getty’s paintings
BEIJING – Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He discussed US economic and technological policy towards China during Wednesday’s meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, based on a reading by the Ministry of Commerce.
China “hopes the American side will concentrate to the impact of the policy on each side,” the reading said, based on CNBC’s translation.
The meeting in Zurich was Yellen and Liu’s first meeting in person after three years of Covid-related travel restrictions.
In October, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Industry and Security announced strict bans on U.S. corporations and individuals working with Chinese partners in advanced semiconductors, a specialized industry that relies on U.S. and foreign development tools. The ban was on account of the Trump administration’s restrictions imposed on certain Chinese corporations equivalent to SMIC and Huawei.
The Biden administration has also didn’t remove Trump-era tariffs on China.
While Beijing retaliated with its own tariffs, its most substantive response to US tech bans was submission of the dispute to the World Trade Organization in December.
![John Kerry discusses renewed diplomacy with China and prospects for climate reparations](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107180137-16740463171674046315-27779605545-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1674048685&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
The US Treasury release made no mention of the technology. “During an honest, substantive and constructive conversation, they exchanged views on the event of the macroeconomic and financial situation,” said the Treasury Ministry.
The reading said Yellen “looks forward to traveling to China and welcoming her counterparts to the USA in the near future.”
The Chinese statement said Yellen could be pleased to go to China “in due course” later this 12 months.
Liu led China’s trade negotiations with the US. In China, he’s the deputy prime minister and head of the financial stability and development committee.
“To rein in inflation, some countries have chosen policies which can be prone to result in a growth-recession-recovery loop” Liu said in a speech this week on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“We call for greater attention to the negative side effect of major country rate hikes in emerging markets and developing countries in order not to extend debt or financial risk,” he said.
Regarding China, Liu said that “high-quality economic development should be our goal”, measures to support real estate have proven successful and that the country will put more emphasis on attracting foreign investment.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported that foreign direct investment in China increased by 8% in US dollars last 12 months. The communiqué noted a surge in investment from South Korea, Germany, the UK and across the EU, but no mention of the US
Liu turns 70 this month and is retiring from China’s leadership, based on changes announced on the ruling Chinese Communist Party congress in October.
Analysts expect He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, to assume Liu’s role in directing the financial and economic work.