US Treasury's Yellen, Chinese Vice Premier He Set to Meet

Facts

• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to host Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Thursday for two days of meetings in San Francisco, ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.¹
• The US Dept. of the Treasury announced on Monday that the meeting will focus on 'intensive diplomacy.' Writing an op-ed for The Washington Post the same day, Yellen claimed that both China and the US had an 'obligation' to 'establish resilient lines of open communication' in order to prevent disagreements 'spiring into conflict.'²
• The meeting is the first since the Treasury Department and China's Ministry of Finance created two shared economic working groups in September. The APEC summit, also in San Francisco, is set to see US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet for the first time in almost a year.³
• Yellen has also commented that her meeting with He was to focus on 'specific, high-priority economic topics' where 'tangible progress' could be made. Yellen has also affirmed that the meeting was not intended to revive the Obama administration's US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.⁴
• Yellen last visited China in July, where she claimed that the world was 'big enough' for both China and the US to mutually prosper. In August this year, Biden signed an executive order prohibiting certain technology investments in China, while in 2022 the exportation of advanced computer chips was also blocked.⁵
• This week, He was appointed as head of the Central Financial Commission, party chief of the Central Financial Work Commission, as well as director of the Central Finance and Economic Affairs Commission.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters (a), ²CNBC, ³Independent, ⁴CNA, ⁵Associated Press and ⁶Reuters (b).

Narratives

• Pro-China narrative, as provided by China Daily. Having previously met in July, further talks between He and Yellen highlight an attempt to restabilize US-China relations. While a great deal will need to be done to clear the air, with questions remaining over Taiwan while trade spats look set to continue despite the US' dependency on Chinese products. China has consistently stressed to the US that the two are on the same side, and any further confrontation will only jeopardize the future of both countries.
• Anti-China narrative, as provided by VOA. This meeting takes place at a time when China is struggling economically, affected by the failed appearance of a hoped post-pandemic boom and a real estate crisis. While China claims that the US continues to attempt to stifle Beijing's economic growth, the US has maintained that its focus is on national security. With the dollar value of total trade in goods reaching a near-record level in recent years, the US sits in a good position for economic talks with China.

Predictions