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US should not politicise trade issues, China’s Li Qiang tells Janet Yellen in response to ‘overcapacity’ concerns
- Chinese Premier Li urges Washington to view industrial capacity ‘objectively’ in meeting with US Treasury Secretary Yellen in Beijing
- Yellen, who is on a five-day visit to China, says the two countries should not avoid ‘tough conversations’
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Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged Washington not to politicise economic issues but to take an objective view on industrial capacity, during talks with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing on Sunday.
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“The United States should look at the capacity issue objectively and dialectically from the point of view of the market economy and from a global perspective, and on the basis of economic laws,” Li said, according to official news agency Xinhua.
Li’s comments came after Yellen, who is on a five-day visit to China, expressed concerns about the country’s industrial “overcapacity”, saying excessive Chinese exports, especially new energy vehicles and solar modules, could undercut American interests and lead to “global spillovers”.
“The development of China’s new energy industry will make an important contribution to the global green and low-carbon transformation,” Li said.
“We hope the US could work with China to adhere to the basic market economy norms of fair competition and open cooperation, while refraining from politicising economic and trade issues or overstretching the concept of national security,” Li said.
Yellen said ahead of the meeting that the countries should not avoid “tough conversations” in managing their differences, according to the US Treasury Department, which described the talks as “frank and productive”.
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