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During a closed meeting with business leaders on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed that the United States wants to work with China on pressing global challenges, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
Yellen’s comments indicate increased efforts by US officials to defuse the complicated and intertwined relationship between the United States and China, the world’s second largest economy.
The meeting with CEOs took place in Washington, where Yellen met with the board of directors of the US-China Business Council, a group that promotes trade between the world’s two largest economies. The board of directors includes the CEOs of multinational companies, including FedEx, Pepsi, Walmart and Ford.
Business and lawmakers on both sides have expressed concern over China’s trade tactics, including alleged intellectual property theft.
During the US-China Business Council meeting, Yellen stressed the importance of both trade and investment with China, but also acknowledged concerns about the barriers to accessing China’s vast market and Beijing’s use of non-market tools, the source told CNN.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the Trump administration’s trade war with China have both shown how dependent the global economy and supply chains are on connections between nations.
Yellen told business leaders that the US economic approach to China remains focused not only on seeking cooperation on the climate crisis and other global challenges, but also on trying to get China to abide by the rules of international trade and address national security and human rights issues, Yellen said.
Yellen’s meeting with the US-China Business Council comes amid high tensions between the United States and China following the Chinese spy balloon incident. US officials have continued to raise concerns about Beijing’s record on human rights and trade.
During a speech in April, Yellen said that despite their differences, the United States and China “can and must find a way to live together.”
“A growing China that abides by international rules is good for the United States and the world,” Yellen said.
It could be an important step in the right direction that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China in the coming weeks, two US officials and a source familiar with the matter previously told CNN.
Last week, US Treasury Undersecretary Jay Shambaugh met with Xie Feng, Beijing’s new ambassador to Washington. The Treasury described the meeting as “open, constructive and part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication.”
Meanwhile, numerous US-based CEOs visited China last week, including Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
During a behind-closed-doors luncheon with moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives earlier this week, Dimon expressed optimism about the state of the US economy on the world stage, a person familiar with the matter previously told CNN.
“America is in very good shape. You’re not a three-meter giant,” Dimon told reporters after lunch, speaking of China. “We have the most prosperous economy the world has ever seen.”
The US-China Business Council represents more than 270 American companies, including well-known brands such as Apple, McDonald’s and the NBA.