US launches new economic working groups to quell tension

Al-Jazeera :
The United States has launched new economic and financial working groups with China, as the two major powers seek to deepen communication amid intensifying competition.

The US Department of Treasury said on Friday that the working groups would come under the direction of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng and would meet “at a regular cadence”.

“The two Working Groups will provide ongoing structured channels for frank and substantive discussions on economic and financial policy matters, as well as an exchange of information on macroeconomic and financial developments,” the department said in a statement.

The announcement comes after Yellen visited China in July as part of a push by US President Joe Biden’s administration to stabilise relations with Beijing.

Ties between China and the US have soured in recent years over a range of issues, from trade and the status of Taiwan to China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea and an ongoing American push against growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.

But senior members of the Biden administration have said they are seeking to manage those tensions and are not looking for confrontation with China.