U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says China has agreed to try to slash excess output of steel and to avoid competitive devaluations of its currency in high-level talks in Beijing.
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The 8th round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue has concluded here in Beijing.
US envoys pressed China on Monday to cut excess steel production that is flooding global markets and to reach a diplomatic settlement to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, as the two sides opened a high-level dialogue.
Chinese oversupply of steel is “damaging and distorting” global markets, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Monday, June 6, joining a chorus of criticism that blames Beijing for plant closures and job losses in the industry worldwide.
For its part, Washington promised to boost its savings rate and investment, especially in infrastructure.
Commercial tensions are growing.
In the eighth round of the U.S. But that is expected to take time, and the flood of low-priced steel has prompted protests by European steelworkers and was cited by Tata in its decision to sell money-losing British operations that employ 20,000 people. Further complicating matters are reports that the Chinese may soon establish an air defense zone over part of the sea, which the USA opposes.
Policy makers from both countries emphasized that communication between the US and China continues to improve, though increased cooperation and trust is still needed.
“We have full confidence that China can achieve its goals of economic and social development”, Xi said. He predicted continued progress by Beijing to reduce excessive capacity.
The United States gained easier and cheaper access to China’s financial market, with China offering the United States a 250-billion-yuan (38 billion USA dollars) quota to buy Chinese stocks and bonds.
Mr Lew, speaking to students in Beijing, said he hoped to make progress on the excess capacity issue in bilateral meetings with senior Chinese officials starting on Monday in Beijing.
Regarding the dispute over the South China Sea, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for maintaining a maritime order based on worldwide laws. China has laid claim to many islands and outcrops across the sea that are also claimed by South-east Asian countries, notably the Philippines and Vietnam.
“We didn’t agree on everything”, said Kerry. -China relationship, Chinese President Xi Jinping quoted a poet from the thousand-year-old Song Dynasty. And the official Global Times newspaper – a hawkish tabloid published by government mouthpiece the People’s Daily – this week accused the US of seeking to stir trouble in China with its emphasis on human rights and what it called “its mounting support of China’s anti-system forces”.
Referring to divergence, Xi said the two countries should respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, and settle problems through dialogue and consultation. He reiterated that Beijing won’t recognize a coming ruling from an arbitration panel in The Hague on a suit brought by the Philippines against China’s claims-a case the USA has supported. He said the two countries had yet to resolve concerns about intellectual property and clarify “the rules of the road”. “And we don’t have a very good political environment in the United States”.
State Councillor Yang Jiechi, China’s top diplomat who outranks the foreign minister, said China was working to open its markets, and pointed to talks over a bilateral investment treaty as an example of this.
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Human rights also were a focus. He expressed concern about a new law on nongovernmental organizations, urging China to let NGOs function across the country.
