The US government announced on Monday that senior US officials will visit China this week in a bid to keep relations between the world’s two largest economies stable despite smoldering trade tensions.
The visit to Shanghai is for consultations under the Financial Working Group “FWG” established last year, with both sides expected to discuss financial stability, cross-border data issues and the fight against fentanyl. is.
Working group meetings will be held Thursday and Friday, with the U.S. delegation led by Brent Neiman, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for international finance.
In addition to Treasury officials, representatives from the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission will also participate.
The Financial Working Group will be co-led by Xuan Changneng, Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China.
“At this FWG meeting, we will address issues around financial stability, cross-border data, lending, and payments, private sector efforts to advance transition financing, and improving communication in times of financial stress. We’re going to talk about concrete steps that we can take to do that,” Neiman said.
He said the meeting of U.S. and Chinese economic officials was in line with President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s “guidance to establish durable lines of communication as we responsibly manage our relationship with China.” ”, it added.
Officials will also discuss possible amendments to China’s anti-money laundering laws, the Ministry of Finance said.
This meeting is the fifth meeting of the Financial Working Group and the second meeting in China.
The group was launched in 2023 with an economic working group and reported directly to Yellen and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng.
This week’s visit to Shanghai follows Yellen’s high-level talks in Beijing and Guangzhou in April, where she warned strongly about the risks of China’s industrial overcapacity, an issue that Chinese authorities It was forced upon me.
The Biden administration is also seeking to block precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl from entering the United States.
The administration has previously scored diplomatic victories with China, including what officials said was Beijing’s first crackdown in years on producers of drug precursor chemicals behind the U.S. addiction epidemic. I’ve been emphasizing.
