On the afternoon of July 7, 2023, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council met with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen at the Great Hall of the People.
Li Qiang said that the world needs a generally stable China-U.S. relationship. Whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity. Last year, President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden reached a series of important common understandings during their successful meeting in Bali, Indonesia, charting the course for China-U.S. relations. Mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation are the fundamental principles of state-to-state interactions, and also the right way for countries to get along with each other. The Chinese civilization always values peace above everything else and opposes domineering and bullying practices. China hopes that the United States will adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude, work with China in the same direction, and bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track at an early date.
Li Qiang pointed out that with closely intertwined economic interests, the China-U.S. economic relationship is mutual beneficial and win-win in nature, and strengthening cooperation meets the actual needs of the two sides and is the right choice to make. China's development brings opportunities and benefits to the United States, rather than challenges or risks. Politicizing economic cooperation or overstretching the concept of security is detrimental to the economic development of the two countries and the whole world. The two sides should strengthen communication and seek common understandings on important bilateral economic issues through candid, in-depth and pragmatic exchanges, to inject stability and positive energy into China-U.S. economic relations. China and the United States should enhance coordination and cooperation to jointly tackle global challenges and promote common development.
Yellen said the United States does not seek “decoupling or disconnection”, and has no intention of hindering China's modernization process. The U.S. side is ready to implement the common understandings reached between the two presidents in Bali, strengthen communication, avoid misunderstandings caused by differences, step up cooperation in stabilizing the macro-economy and addressing global challenges, and seek mutual benefit and win-win results between the two economies.