US officials to travel to China for economic meetings
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Aug 12, 2024

Senior American officials are due to visit China this week, the US government said Monday, seeking to keep ties between the world's two biggest economies steady despite simmering trade tensions.

The trip to Shanghai will be for talks under a financial working group (FWG) formed last year, with both sides due to discuss financial stability, issues relating to cross-border data, as well as the fight against fentanyl.

The working group's meetings will take place on Thursday and Friday, with the US delegation being led by Brent Neiman, Treasury's deputy under secretary for international finance.

Treasury officials will be joined by representatives from the Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission.

The financial working group is co-led by People's Bank of China deputy governor Xuan Changneng.

"We intend for this FWG meeting to include conversations on financial stability, issues related to cross-border data, lending, and payments, private sector efforts to advance transition finance, and concrete steps we can take to improve communication in the event of financial stress," Neiman said.

He added that the gathering of US and Chinese economic officials builds on President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's "guidance to establish durable lines of communication as we responsibly manage our relationship" with Beijing.

Officials are also expected to discuss possible revisions of China's anti-money laundering law, according to the Treasury.

The talks will mark the fifth meeting of the financial working group, and the second round in China.

The group was launched in 2023 together with an economic working group, reporting directly to Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The Shanghai trip this week comes after Yellen's high-level talks in Beijing and Guangzhou in April, where she warned strongly of the risks of Chinese industrial overcapacity -- an issue Chinese officials have pushed back on.

The Biden administration has also been seeking to prevent precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl from being brought into the United States.

It has previously highlighted wins from its diplomacy with China, including what officials said was the first crackdown in years by Beijing on producers of these precursor chemicals to the drug behind a US addiction epidemic.

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