Geithner says US willing to open its markets to China
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE United States is willing to open up its markets to China and give it more access to US technologies if Beijing "makes progress" on key issues, according to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
"We are willing to continue to make progress on these issues, but our ability to do so will depend in part on how much progress we see from China on issues that are important to us," Geithner said on Thursday ahead of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meetings to be held in Beijing next week.
Geithner said China's financial system is still dominated by large state-owned banks that favor lending to large state-owned companies, and he urged the country to raise the ceiling on deposit rates so that Chinese households could earn a higher return on their savings. Higher deposit rates would increase their income and their ability to consume goods and services including those from the US, he told the Commonwealth Club of California.
In 2001, the US exported about US$130 billion worth of goods and services to China, supporting more than 600,000 jobs in the US, he said.
He said he was encouraged by China's recent decisions to widen the trading range of its currency and move forward with a pilot financial reform program in the city of Wenzhou.
Geithner said that many Americans overestimated China's strengths, and the country was facing formidable challenges, including an aging population, rising labor costs and an inefficient banking system.
"The challenges they face looking forward are really, really tough," Geithner said. "What looks strong in China is not as strong as it seems."
He repeated that the Chinese currency needed to appreciate more rapidly.
A stronger, more market-determined yuan will provide China with the "independence and flexibility to respond to future changes in growth and inflation," he said.
Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with Chinese officials next week as part of an ongoing dialogue designed to strengthen ties between the world's two largest economies.
US lawmakers acknowledged that the majority of states and congressional districts were benefiting from a jump in US exports to China, but said more had to be done to open Chinese markets to American goods and services.
"We are willing to continue to make progress on these issues, but our ability to do so will depend in part on how much progress we see from China on issues that are important to us," Geithner said on Thursday ahead of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meetings to be held in Beijing next week.
Geithner said China's financial system is still dominated by large state-owned banks that favor lending to large state-owned companies, and he urged the country to raise the ceiling on deposit rates so that Chinese households could earn a higher return on their savings. Higher deposit rates would increase their income and their ability to consume goods and services including those from the US, he told the Commonwealth Club of California.
In 2001, the US exported about US$130 billion worth of goods and services to China, supporting more than 600,000 jobs in the US, he said.
He said he was encouraged by China's recent decisions to widen the trading range of its currency and move forward with a pilot financial reform program in the city of Wenzhou.
Geithner said that many Americans overestimated China's strengths, and the country was facing formidable challenges, including an aging population, rising labor costs and an inefficient banking system.
"The challenges they face looking forward are really, really tough," Geithner said. "What looks strong in China is not as strong as it seems."
He repeated that the Chinese currency needed to appreciate more rapidly.
A stronger, more market-determined yuan will provide China with the "independence and flexibility to respond to future changes in growth and inflation," he said.
Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with Chinese officials next week as part of an ongoing dialogue designed to strengthen ties between the world's two largest economies.
US lawmakers acknowledged that the majority of states and congressional districts were benefiting from a jump in US exports to China, but said more had to be done to open Chinese markets to American goods and services.
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