(Washington) The United States and China held the first meeting of their economic working group, recently created to try to strengthen ties between the two powers, on Monday evening in Washington and Tuesday morning in Beijing.
“The delegations met virtually for two hours and had a productive and in-depth discussion on topics including domestic and global macroeconomic developments,” detailed the US Department of the Treasury in a press release.
Washington says “US officials have also been frank in expressing their concerns.”
The meeting was led by senior officials from the US Treasury Department and China’s Ministry of Finance.
The two countries, which are trying to warm up their relations and reopen dialogue after several months of difficult relations, created this working group at the end of September, after the visit to China by the American Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, in July.
“The two sides had in-depth, frank and constructive communication on issues such as the global macroeconomic situation and policies, bilateral economic relations and cooperation to respond to global challenges,” the public television channel reported. Chinese CCTV.
“China has expressed its own concerns. Both sides will continue to maintain communication,” CCTV said.
A second working group has been set up and will focus on financial and regulatory balance issues, under the leadership of the US Treasury and the Chinese Central Bank. It will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, the Treasury said.
Sino-American relations, difficult for several years, fell to a low in February when the US military shot down a “balloon” that Washington said was being used by Beijing to spy on US territory.
The two sides have since reconnected with a succession of visits by senior US officials to Beijing, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June, ahead of Ms Yellen.
And Joe Biden could meet Xi Jinping at the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit scheduled for mid-November in San Francisco.
The Biden administration, however, continues to impose trade sanctions against Beijing in areas it considers crucial to its national security, notably concerning semiconductors.
Besides trade disputes, Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and the issue of the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan remain stumbling blocks in bilateral relations.