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Wang, Geithner talks seen as encouraging sign
Source: Agencies |
April 9, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
VICE Premier Wang Qishan met United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday and discussed economic ties in a sign the two sides might be trying to cool their rhetoric in a dispute over the yuan.
In a statement after the talks, the US Treasury Department did not say whether currency was discussed.
Geithner, who stopped in Beijing after a two-day visit to India, left for Washington after the meeting.
The decision to hold such a high-level encounter suggested China and the US are trying to narrow differences over currency, which threaten to overshadow cooperation on the global economy and other issues.
"The two sides exchanged views on US-China economic relations, the global economic situation and issues relating to the upcoming economic track dialogue of the second US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, to be held in Beijing in late May," the Treasury statement said.
A Treasury official said the meeting lasted 75 minutes in the VIP terminal at Beijing International Airport. The official said the US side was represented by Geithner and David Dollar, Treasury's economic and financial emissary to China.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu declined before the meeting to elaborate on the agenda, saying only that Wang and Geithner would "exchange ideas on China-US relations and other issues."
US critics say Beijing's controls keep its yuan undervalued, giving its exporters an advantage and swelling its trade surplus.
China has publicly resisted US pressure, with Commerce Minister Chen Deming warning that a rise in the yuan's value would hurt exporters, who provide sizable employment.
"If China's currency would appreciate very significantly in a short time it would not be a good thing and would raise costs for US consumers," said Xia Bin, director general of the Financial Research Institute of the Development Reform Council.
Xia argues that currency changes would not significantly affect trade flows.
More currency reports, B2
(AP)
In a statement after the talks, the US Treasury Department did not say whether currency was discussed.
Geithner, who stopped in Beijing after a two-day visit to India, left for Washington after the meeting.
The decision to hold such a high-level encounter suggested China and the US are trying to narrow differences over currency, which threaten to overshadow cooperation on the global economy and other issues.
"The two sides exchanged views on US-China economic relations, the global economic situation and issues relating to the upcoming economic track dialogue of the second US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, to be held in Beijing in late May," the Treasury statement said.
A Treasury official said the meeting lasted 75 minutes in the VIP terminal at Beijing International Airport. The official said the US side was represented by Geithner and David Dollar, Treasury's economic and financial emissary to China.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu declined before the meeting to elaborate on the agenda, saying only that Wang and Geithner would "exchange ideas on China-US relations and other issues."
US critics say Beijing's controls keep its yuan undervalued, giving its exporters an advantage and swelling its trade surplus.
China has publicly resisted US pressure, with Commerce Minister Chen Deming warning that a rise in the yuan's value would hurt exporters, who provide sizable employment.
"If China's currency would appreciate very significantly in a short time it would not be a good thing and would raise costs for US consumers," said Xia Bin, director general of the Financial Research Institute of the Development Reform Council.
Xia argues that currency changes would not significantly affect trade flows.
More currency reports, B2
(AP)
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