U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday that the world's two biggest economies should engage in conversations to cooperate on addressing pressing global issues, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
The United States and China have a "duty" to responsibly manage the two countries' complex relationship and show leadership in tackling global challenges, Yellen said at the beginning of a meeting with Li in Beijing.
Li said that China hopes the two countries will be "partners rather than adversaries," with mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Yellen said that the bilateral relationship has been put on a more stable footing over the past year, but the two world powers have more to work on. She emphasized the importance of working together on issues, including debt distress in low-income and emerging economies, according to the U.S. department.
The treasury secretary also raised concerns during the meeting about the impact of China's industrial overcapacity on the U.S. economy, the department said, in reference to Beijing's overproduction of items such as electric vehicles.
Among major issues, the United States has kept its controls on China-bound exports of semiconductors and other key items in place, while China has been restricting exports of some materials necessary for manufacturing chips.
Li expressed hope that the United States will uphold fair competition and open cooperation and refrain from "turning economic and trade issues into political or security issues," Xinhua said.
On the U.S. concern over the overcapacity issue, the Chinese premier urged Washington to view it "objectively and dialectically from a market-oriented and global perspective." He said the development of China's new energy industry will make important contributions to the global green and low-carbon transition.
Li called for more communication between the two countries to resolve differences and said China is willing to strengthen policy coordination with the United States to jointly address global challenges such as climate change, according to Xinhua.
As part of her trip to China, Yellen held talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Guangzhou for two days through Saturday. The two agreed to launch talks on achieving "balanced growth" for their domestic economies and globally.
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