Superpowers team up to tackle financial stress

China's central bank said a meeting in Shanghai produced an agreement with the US Treasury to appoint contact people to deal with any future "financial stress events," a rare example of the world's two biggest economies seeking common ground.

The two sides also "exchanged lists of financial stability contacts" during the fifth meeting of the so-called Financial Working Group that was set up following Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit to China last year.

"The People's Bank of China and the US Treasury Department signed an exchange of notes on strengthening China-US financial stability cooperation," according to the readout from the PBOC about the meetings on August 15 to 16.

The talks represented the first sit-down between senior US and Chinese economic officials since Beijing's leadership laid out its longer-term priorities last month at a twice-a-decade conclave.

The meetings had planned to focus macroeconomic and financial stability, governance of the International Monetary Fund and capital markets issues.

Bloomberg