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[text/observer network yang rong] according to reports from bloomberg and reuters, u.s. treasury secretary yellen said on the 7th local time that after the current president biden's term ends in january next year, she "may" no longer continue to serve as treasury secretary, but before that she may meet with chinese officials again.

yellen made the above statement while attending the annual forum hosted by the texas tribune in texas. when asked by bloomberg whether she would stay in office, take a new position or step down after the new government takes office in january, she said: "(the term of treasury secretary) may end, but... it depends on the situation."

reuters commented that as the competition between democratic candidate and vice president harris and republican candidate and former president trump enters a white-hot stage, the 78-year-old yellen's remarks are the closest she has come to announcing her future plans. yellen is the first female treasury secretary in u.s. history and the first woman to serve as the chairman of the federal reserve and the director of the white house national economic council (nec).

she said she still has a lot of work to do at the treasury department in the coming months, including continuing to communicate with china. when asked whether she would visit china again as treasury secretary, yellen said: "of course i may go back there, and i also welcome my chinese counterparts to visit. my guess is that no matter which side visits, we will have a visit."

yellen (left) was interviewed by bloomberg at the texas forum. screenshot of bloomberg video

yellen also mentioned that us treasury undersecretary for international affairs, christine schumberg, will lead a delegation to beijing "soon" to continue discussing economic issues with china. schumberg is the us leader of the china-us economic working group, which has held four meetings since its establishment in september last year.

yellen admitted that the united states and china have differences on economic issues, but at the same time "we also need to cooperate", and that issues such as climate change and debt relief for developing countries are areas where the two countries can cooperate. if a cross-border financial crisis occurs in the future, the connection mechanism between the united states and china is very important.

yellen believes that the next u.s. administration "needs to prioritize and nurture" u.s.-china relations, and that communication needs to be maintained at all levels, including the highest level. "we already have enough differences, and if there is no opportunity to put these differences in context and discuss them comprehensively, tensions are certainly likely to increase," she said. "this does require continued attention, and i hope it gets it."

just one week before yellen made the above remarks, us president's national security advisor sullivan paid a three-day visit to china to hold a new round of sino-us strategic communication. this was sullivan's first visit to china during his tenure, and it was also the first visit to china by a us president's national security advisor in eight years.

earlier, in early april this year, yellen started her second visit to china during her tenure as treasury secretary after a lapse of 9 months. during this period, china and treasury secretary yellen held talks and exchanges at multiple levels and in multiple fields. yellen paid particular attention to the issue of "overcapacity" during this visit, and expressed "concern" on many occasions about the signs of "overcapacity" in china's new energy industry. in this regard, liao min, vice minister of the ministry of finance of china, introduced at the time that china attaches great importance to the issue of capacity and has made full and rational responses to this in meetings and talks with yellen at all levels.

liao min said at a briefing on april 8 that china believes that under the background of the deep adjustment of the global production and supply chain driven by technological progress in the new energy industry, many countries, including china, will face the challenges of industrial transformation and labor structure adjustment. we should look at this phenomenon objectively and make pragmatic and rational policy choices. china has noted the concerns of the united states and other relevant parties and is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with all parties, and rationally view and properly handle differences on the basis of adhering to market principles. the two sides will continue to maintain communication on this at the working group level.

mao ning, a spokesperson for the chinese ministry of foreign affairs, responded at a regular press conference on april 9 that in the context of globalization, judging whether there is overcapacity should be based on global market demand and future development potential. supply and demand balance is relative, and imbalance is often the norm. solving these problems mainly depends on the market to adjust according to the law of value.

mao ning stressed that politicizing and securitizing economic and trade issues such as production capacity violates economic laws, is not conducive to domestic industries, and is not conducive to the stable development of the world economy. china believes that all parties should adhere to the basic principles of fair competition, open cooperation, and properly handle contradictions and differences in economic and trade cooperation in accordance with wto rules, and jointly maintain the stability of the global production and supply chain.

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