Four days of top-level economic meetings between the United States and China concluded in Beijing on Monday with no major breakthroughs, but the world’s two largest economies agreed to hold more discussions to address rising friction over trade, investment and national security.
The conversation is poised to become even more difficult, however, as hopes of greater economic cooperation collide with a harsh political reality: It is an election year in the United States, and antipathy toward China is running high. At the same time, Chinese officials appeared unmoved by Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen’s urging that China scale back its recent surge of green energy technology exports, which could threaten American jobs.
Despite a warm welcome on her second trip to China as Treasury secretary, which included meetings with the premier and with senior economic and finance officials, it was evident that the level of trust between the two sides does not run deep.
“There is much more work to do,” Ms. Yellen said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday. “And it remains unclear what this relationship will endure in the months and years ahead.”
Ms. Yellen also met on Monday with Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People’s Bank of China. She had earlier held talks in the southern city of Guangzhou with her primary counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng. The two sides agreed to hold more discussions, including on fostering “balanced growth,” a reference to the flood of exports from China that some officials argue is distorting global markets.
Several sensitive issues will test the new lines of communication that the United States and China have been working to cultivate.
