Senior U.S. officials are scheduled to visit China this week, the U.S. government said Monday, aiming to maintain stability in relations between the world's two largest economies amid escalating trade tensions.
The Shanghai meeting will take place under the financial working group (FWG) formed last year, where the two countries will discuss financial stability, cross-border data issues and the fight against fentanyl.
The meeting will take place on Thursday and Friday, August 15-16, 2024. The US delegation will be led by Brent Neiman, undersecretary of the Treasury for international finance.
Finance ministry officials will be accompanied by representatives from the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The financial group will be jointly led by People's Bank of China deputy governor Xuan Changneng.
“We want the FWG to include discussions 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 times of financial stress,” Neiman said.
He added that the meeting of US and Chinese economic officials was held based on the guidance of US President Joe Biden and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen “to build enduring lines of communication while responsibly managing our relationship” with Beijing.
Officials are also expected to discuss possible improvements to China's anti-money laundering laws, according to the US Treasury Department.
The meeting will be the fifth for the financial working group, and the second to be held in China.
The working group was launched in 2023 alongside the economic working group, which reports to Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
This week’s visit to Shanghai comes after Yellen’s own high-level meetings in Beijing and Guangzhou in April, where she warned forcefully about the risks of China’s industrial overcapacity – an issue that Chinese officials have dismissed.
The Biden administration is also seeking to prevent shipments of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl to the United States.
Previously, the administration has highlighted diplomatic successes with China, including what officials say is Beijing's first crackdown in years on producers of precursor chemicals to drugs that have fueled the U.S. addiction epidemic. (rd/jm)
