(Beijing) US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a visit whose stated objective is to improve trade destabilized by the growing rivalry between the two leading world powers.
His plane landed in the Chinese capital shortly after 5 p.m. (5 a.m. Eastern time), an AFP journalist noted.
On the tarmac, M.me Yellen was greeted by US Ambassador Nicholas Burns and a senior official from China’s Ministry of Finance, Yang Yingming.
The trip, scheduled until Sunday, is Janet Yellen’s first to China since taking office. It comes weeks after a similar visit by his colleague at the State Department, Antony Blinken.
The visit had been planned for a long time, but could not materialize after the renewed tension caused by the affair of the Chinese airship shot down over American territory.
The meeting is an opportunity to move forward with the idea of a summit between the two countries, US President Joe Biden having stressed that he was hopeful of meeting his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping soon.
The objective is to extend the means of exchange between the two countries, to avoid reciprocal misinterpretations and to expand cooperation on subjects related to the world economy, global warming or the debt crisis in emerging and developing countries, according to the US Treasury.
The meeting, which takes place against a backdrop of difficult economic recovery on the Chinese side and rising rates on the American side, should also allow the two partners and rivals to gauge their respective growth prospects.
The fact that M.me Yellen “is spending four days in Beijing, in a context of strong domestic and international pressure, underlines the importance she attaches to this visit”, comments to AFP Wendy Cutler, vice-president of the Asia Society. (ASPI), a US-based think tank.
If the subjects of dissatisfaction are not lacking on both sides and leave little room for maneuver, the visit must also make it possible to lay the foundations for future cooperation, according to Ms.me Cutler.
Rethink the relationship
This visit is part of American efforts to “rethink” the relationship between the two superpowers, both diplomatically and in other areas, judge for her part the researcher Lindsay Gorman, of the American think tank German Marshall Fund (GMF).
The latest example to date, the White House is preparing to limit access to American cloud computing services to Chinese companies, according to the wall street journal of Wednesday.
“We must take into account the new reality of this strategic competition”, specifies Mr.me Gorman, noting that Janet Yellen has so far only talked about competition, even if that includes issues of security and values, such as human rights.
Issues of export control of technological products and competition measures “which currently dominate the political agenda” will be at the center of the discussions, she forecasts.
On Monday, China responded by announcing restrictions on exports of two rare metals needed to make semiconductors, a reminder that a possible shift in relations will take time.
Janet Yellen could be the person best placed to smooth things over, Lindsay Gorman believes, however.
The details of the planned meetings have not been specified, but analysts are betting on an exchange with the new Chinese Vice-Premier, He Lifeng, appointed last March.
Tensions and cooperation
The reasons for tensions between the two countries on economic issues persist, even more so after the decision of the American president, Joe Biden, to restrict the possibilities of American investments in China when it concerns technologies deemed sensitive.
Washington is also concerned about “coercive actions and uncompetitive practices,” and is considering corrective action, according to a Treasury official.
Other areas of friction include recent changes to China’s anti-espionage law, which vaguely prohibits the transfer of information related to national security.
Other subjects, on the other hand, seem conducive to cooperation, starting with the excessive indebtedness of third countries.
The United States has thus welcomed progress on Zambia’s debt, the restructuring of which has been validated by creditors, first and foremost China, after similar progress in Sri Lanka.
Washington insists that bilateral creditors act quickly to prevent these debt problems from getting worse, after accusing China of dragging its feet in the past.