ALBAWABA – China on Monday called on the United States (US) to take “practical action” on sanctions against Chinese firms, one day after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen completed more than 10 hours of meetings with senior Chinese officials on simmering US-China ties.
China "requires" the US to "cease the suppression of Chinese enterprises, lift bans on Xinjiang-related products, and take concrete steps to respond to China's major concerns," China’s finance ministry said in a statement, carried by Reuters.
The ministry also said China believed its development was an opportunity rather than a risk to the US.
"Strengthening cooperation between China and the United States is a realistic need and the correct choice of the two countries," the ministry’s statement said.
The US had imposed sanctions on some companies for using forced labour in the far-western region of Xinjiang. ButBeijing denies the use of forced labour and any other abuses there.
Yellen went to Beijing seeking to ease US-China tensions.
Though there were no breakthroughs, both sides described their talks as "productive" and agreed to keep channels open "at all levels" for talks on the economy, according to Reuters.
Yellen’s visit was the second senior US official visit to China in as many months.
Moving forward, these visits boost chances of US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping meeting later this year, possibly at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco in November.
US-China tech and trade war: Export restrictions boost stocks of local chips-metal producersBefore departing on Sunday, Yellen told reporters that she and her Chinese counterparts had "aired significant disagreements" in their meetings, a sentiment reflected in the ministry’s readout.
