China, US to deepen economic coordination

China and the United States reached consensus in economic and financial areas during the visit by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Beijing is willing to work with Washington to turn the consensus into practical outcomes, thereby improving bilateral economic ties, a senior Chinese official said on Monday.

Liao Min, vice-minister of finance, made the remarks while giving a briefing on the outcomes of Yellen's visit, which lasted from Thursday to Tuesday.

"Deepening economic and financial policy coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation between the world's two largest economies is of great significance for maintaining the stability of the economic and financial systems of both countries and the world, as well as for promoting post-pandemic economic recovery and development, for which China has always maintained an open and positive attitude," Liao said.

The two sides will continue implementing the consensus under the framework of the economic and financial working groups established last year. The fourth meetings of the two working groups are scheduled to be held separately during the spring meetings in mid-April of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, Liao said.

During her visit, Yellen met separately with Premier Li Qiang, Vice-Premier He Lifeng, Finance Minister Lan Fo'an and People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng. She also interacted with Chinese university students and scholars.

Liao said the two sides have agreed to conduct in-depth discussions on the issue of balanced growth of the two countries and major economies through bilateral channels, which aligns with China's policy objectives and practices for economic transformation and high-quality development.

They also agreed to maintain communication on issues such as addressing the debt issues of developing countries and reforms of international financial institutions under multilateral channels such as the G20, in order to jointly deal with global challenges. This comes as the global economy is experiencing high levels of debt, inflation and interest rates and low growth, with emerging markets and developing countries significantly affected by the spillover effects.

Both sides agreed to continue conducting exchanges and cooperating on issues such as financial stability, sustainable finance, anti-money laundering efforts, and counterterrorism financing.

Liao said that China attaches great importance to the so-called production capacity issue and provided a full and rational response to the US in all levels of meetings and discussions with Yellen.

"China is aware of the concerns of the US and other relevant parties and is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with all parties. Based on market principles, we aim to rationally address and properly handle the disputes," he said, adding that the two sides will continue communication on the issue via the working groups.

Zhang Monan, deputy director of the Institute of American and European Studies at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said: "Both sides need to listen to each other and work together to find solutions to their differences. They need to reach consensus on major issues of principle and, more than anything else, to translate the consensus into concrete action."