Yellen urges 'direct' talks, climate collaboration
Beijing and Washington should communicate "directly" on concerns about specific economic practices, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Saturday, urging greater cooperation between the world's two biggest economies despite fraught ties. Yellen is on a four-day trip to Beijing, as the United States seeks to cool tensions and stress areas of collaboration between the two countries. In a meeting on Saturday with Vice Premier He Lifeng, she pointed to record bilateral trade last year as proof of just how intertwined they are. "There is ample room for our firms to engage in trade and investment," she told He at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. "Where we have concerns about specific economic practices, we should and will communicate them directly." Vice Premier He responded that Beijing regretted that "unexpected incidents" had hampered efforts to improve China-US ties following a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November last year. "There were some problems in the implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state," he said. But following Yellen's visit this week and her meeting with Premier Li Qiang on Friday, he added, "China will earnestly implement the consensus reached between you and Premier Li Qiang and turn it into concrete actions". Yellen has been keen throughout her visit to emphasise areas where the two powers need to work together – while also defending US moves to "de-risk" its economy from China, as well as tackling what Washington sees as unfair treatment of American businesses. On Saturday she told a roundtable of experts in China that collaboration between the two powers on climate financing was "critical". "As the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse gases and the largest investors in renewable energy, we have both a joint responsibility – and ability – to lead the way," Yellen said. "Climate change is at the top of the list of global challenges, and the United States and China must work together to address this existential threat," she added. (AFP)