The United States and China have agreed to launch talks on "balanced growth" in their domestic economies as well as globally in an effort to address U.S. concerns over China's excess manufacturing capacity, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Saturday during her visit to the Asian country.
The world's two largest economies also decided to expand cooperation against illicit financial crimes, announcing the start of exchanges aimed at clamping down on the laundering of money.
The agreements were reached following two days of talks through Saturday between Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Guangzhou, southern China, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Yellen reaffirmed with He the "important foundations" of the U.S.-China economic relationship, which the two sides agreed to in November, including the need to intensify communication and the shared objective of a healthy economic relationship that provides a level playing field, the department said in a press release.
On the launch of talks on balanced growth, Yellen said in a statement that they will facilitate a discussion around macroeconomic imbalances, citing her particular concerns about the impact of Chinese industrial overcapacity in sectors such as electric vehicles and solar panels as a result of government support.
Criticizing China for exporting large quantities of goods at "artificially depressed prices," Yellen said, "I firmly believe a shift away from policies that drive overcapacity would benefit the American, Chinese, and global economies."
Yellen and He previously held talks in San Francisco last November. Yellen visited China in July last year for the first time after assuming the treasury secretary post in 2021.
