Officials from the United States and China engaged in a productive and substantive two-hour virtual meeting to deliberate on domestic and global macroeconomic developments, as announced
by the U.S. Treasury Department. This dialogue comes amid strained relations between the world's two largest economies, stemming from various issues including matters concerning Taiwan, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations of espionage, human rights concerns, and trade tariffs.
Both nations have witnessed senior officials meeting in recent months to pave the way for an anticipated meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco this November.
The U.S. Treasury Department elaborated, stating, "Today, the United States and the People's Republic of China held the first meeting of the Economic Working Group (EWG), which serves as an ongoing channel to discuss and facilitate progress on bilateral economic policy matters." Meanwhile, China's finance ministry described the discussions as "in-depth, frank, and constructive," also addressing bilateral cooperation in dealing with global challenges.
The two sides agreed to maintain open lines of communication, and while they raised "areas of concern," specific details were not disclosed. This meeting was led by senior officials from the U.S. Treasury Department and China's finance ministry.
The launch of the EWG occurred last month, following U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit to Beijing in July. Additionally, a financial working group was initiated in parallel, with its inaugural meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
This economic dialogue adds to a series of high-level engagements between the two nations in recent months, including visits from U.S. officials to China, such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June, Yellen in July, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August. More recently, Blinken met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in New York, and U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held discussions with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta. China's top diplomat will travel to the United States later this week for a meeting with Blinken. Photo by Territory of American Canada, Wikimedia commons.