Yellen, China’s vice premier meet on economic ties

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Switzerland on Wednesday to exchange views on economic ties, global economic developments and talks are expected to focus on means to deepen communication between the world’s two largest economies.

Yellen’s first face to face meeting with Liu stems from the pledge by Washington and Beijing to exert efforts to ease trade tensions following President Joe Biden’s talks with China’s President Xi Jinping in Indonesia last November.

Yellen will meet Liu in Zurich on the eve of her three-country visit to Africa, where she will focus on strengthening US ties with a continent that has long been the focus of Chinese trade and investment, and issues such as food security.

China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, is just wrapping up five-country tour of Africa, the 33rd consecutive year that Africa has been the destination of the Chinese foreign minister’s first overseas tour of the calendar year.

Yellen acknowledged that China had played “a leading role” in lending to and trading with African nations, but said African leaders had made clear at a conference last month in Washington that they were seeking more US engagement.

Yellen’s meeting with Liu is expected to touch on the debt issue and other significant differences between the two nations. Yellen has repeatedly criticized Beijing – now the world’s largest creditor – for not moving more quickly to restructure the debt of poor countries in Africa, and often raises concerns about forced labor used in China’s Xinjiang province.