China's Vice Premier He Lifeng will have a video call with the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to communicate important issues in the economic field between the two countries, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
Earlier of the day, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he will hold his first introductory call with his Chinese counterpart on Friday, and reiterated longstanding US calls for its biggest geostrategic rival to rebalance its economy toward domestic consumption.
“I do have my first call with my Chinese counterpart tomorrow morning, so I look forward to a very productive discussion,” Bessent said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Bloomberg Surveillance. Bessent didn’t identify his counterpart by name. His predecessor, Janet Yellen, engaged with Vice Premier He Lifeng, meeting with him in Beijing last April.
Bessent said that his first message will be that “we want to work together,” and that “we really want to put a stop” to the inflow of precursor ingredients for fentanyl from China. President Donald Trump earlier this month slapped a 10 percent surtax on goods from China, citing concerns over the illicit fentanyl trade.
The new Treasury chief effectively picked up a baton from Yellen in calling on China to stop relying on exports to propel its economic growth. Beijing has consistently defended its economic policies and argued that China’s success in trade is a result of free market competition and comparative advantage, not subsidies.
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He Lifeng will talk to his US counterpart on Friday. Photo by BLOOMBERG
