Janet Yellen to oppose pressure on US businesses during China visit

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Janet Yellen has told US trade officials she will raise concerns about punitive actions taken against US companies with Chinese officials as she embarks on a mission to stabilize strained relations between the powers.

Yellen told the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing on Friday that she wanted to “deepen” communication with China.

But Yellen, who is the first US Treasury secretary to visit China in four years, said she would raise issues that have raised concerns among US business interests, including increasing pressure on companies and potential Chinese exports of vital minerals. controls are included.

“I am expressing concerns that I have heard from the US business community, including China’s use of non-market instruments such as subsidies extended to its state-owned enterprises and domestic firms, as well as market access for foreign companies Constraints are involved.” He said.

Yellen is scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday as part of her four-day visit to the country.

Yellen arrived in Beijing several weeks after Antony Blinken became the first cabinet secretary to visit China during Joe Biden’s presidency. The two sides are seeking a stable relationship after Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in November to establish a “floor” and ensure that competition does not turn into conflict.

That momentum was derailed when a suspected Chinese spy balloon crossed North America in February before being shot down.

Yellen said she was “particularly troubled” by Beijing’s recent punitive measures, including a crackdown on US due diligence and consulting firms, in an apparent effort to make it harder for foreign companies to obtain sensitive data on certain industries. Is.

Beijing also banned Chinese entities involved in critical infrastructure from buying semiconductors from Idaho-based memory-chip maker Micron, a move seen by Washington as retaliation for US export controls aimed at obtaining and developing advanced chips. Chinese efforts to do so were to be thwarted.

Before Yellen left for the US this week, Beijing said Chinese groups would have to apply for licenses to export gallium and germanium, which are vital for making chips. He said the US is “still evaluating” the move, highlighting the need for “resilient and diverse supply chains”.

“I am also concerned about China’s recently announced new export controls on two important minerals used in technologies such as semiconductors,” Yellen told officials.

He also said that Washington’s approach was designed to diversify and “not to be isolated” from China and that national security measures such as export controls were narrowly targeted. US officials have expressed concern over the use of US technology for dual commercial and military purposes to aid the People’s Liberation Army.

Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the CSIS think-tank, said one of Yellen’s goals was to meet with Chinese officials who held top economic portfolios this year, including her chief counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, who held China’s economic portfolio. Liu He was succeeded as king. ,

Yellen’s team has not confirmed whether she will see Liu Kun, the new finance minister, or Pan Gongsheng, the future head of China’s central bank. Earlier on Friday, he met Liu and Yi Gang, the outgoing governors of the People’s Bank of China.

Kennedy said, “Yellen doesn’t know her counterparts who oversee Chinese economic policy.” “Although all major decisions go through Xi Jinping, these individuals and their bureaucracy still matter. , , The world will watch closely for any signs of progress or continued impasse.

Zhu Feng, a foreign policy expert at Nanjing University, said the visit is not expected to yield any breakthrough or “change the structure of bilateral relations”, but could help “reduce some misunderstandings”.