WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The U.S. Treasury Department and China's Ministry of Finance launched a pair of economic working groups on Friday in an effort to ease tensions and deepen ties between the nations.
Led by and Vice Premier He Lifeng, the working groups will be divided into economic and financial segments.
The working groups will 鈥渆stablish a durable channel of communication between the world鈥檚 two largest economies,鈥 Yellen said in a series of tweets detailing the announcement. She said the groups will 鈥渟erve as important forums to communicate America鈥檚 interests and concerns, promote a healthy economic competition between our two countries with a level playing field for American workers and businesses."
The announcement follows a string of high-ranking administration officials' this year, which sets the stage for a possible meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in November at an Asia-Pacific economic conference in San Francisco.
China is one of the United States鈥 biggest trading partners, and economic competition between the two nations has increased in recent years. The two finance ministers have agreed to meet at a 鈥渞egular cadence,鈥 the Treasury Department said in a news release.
Yellen, along with other Biden administration officials, traveled to China this year after the Democratic president directed key senior officials to 鈥渕aintain communication and after he met with Xi in Bali last year.
The groups' launch also comes after with China鈥檚 vice president on Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
Working groups between the U.S. and China are not a new creation.
Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill., set up a working group in 2005 between lawmakers in the two nations. And as recently as August, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo promised to set up a working group of officials and private sector representatives to 鈥渟eek solutions on trade and investment issues.鈥
Areas of disagreement between the nations have included tariffs, technology and and large parts of the South and East China Seas.
reached a fever pitch earlier this year when a Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted traveling over sensitive U.S. airspace. The U.S. military off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions.
In April, Yellen called out China鈥檚 business and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet while about how there is 鈥渁 future in which both countries share in and drive global economic progress.鈥
Relations between the two countries have become as the Communist nation has grown its ties with Russia despite its continued invasion into Ukraine.
The U.S. last year of advanced computer chips to China, an action meant to quell China鈥檚 ability to create advanced military systems including weapons of mass destruction, Commerce Department officials said last October.
