US, China Launch Economic Working Groups

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Facts

• On Friday, the US Treasury Department announced the creation of two new US-China working groups to open a line of communication concerning economic and financial matters between both nations.¹
• The Economic Working Group and the Finance Working Group will both be led by the US Treasury Department, with China's Ministry of Finance leading alongside the department on the economic group and the People's Bank of China on the finance group.²
• Confirming the news, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV claimed that the two groups were to hold meetings on both a  'regular and ad hoc basis' in order to 'enhance communication.'³
• The working groups were first agreed upon during US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Beijing this July. Both groups will report to Yellen and He.⁴
• A working group was previously set up between the two states in 2005, while US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao pledged to set up a working group to 'seek solutions on trade and investment issues' this August.⁵
• The existence of annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue meetings between US state departments and China reportedly ended in 2017.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Forbes, ³South china morning post, ⁴Barrons, ⁵Associated Press and ⁶Voa.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Cgtn. The creation of working groups between the US and China can only be viewed as a positive policy following the unsustainable pace of reciprocal countermeasures the two states have imposed upon one another in recent times. Given the need for clarity between China and the US, the attempted use of dialogue is relief amid the growing threat of confrontation.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Washington Post. So far, despite enhanced dialogue, meetings between the US and China have rewarded little material gain for the world. China continues to evade the US' concerns over its behavior, and Washington skips around topics that may anger Beijing. Time and time again, it has been proven that, despite best intentions, dialogue between international powers simply isn't enough.

Predictions