WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury and Chinese Finance Ministry officials started a two-day meeting in Beijing on Thursday to discuss financial stability and capital markets issues between the two economic powers, deepening an engagement revived last year.
A U.S. Treasury official said the meeting, the first in-person meeting in China of the new group, was due to conclude on Friday. Other topics include international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, cross-border payments and cooperation to combat money laundering and narcotics trafficking.
The working group and a parallel economic panel were launched in September after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's initial visit to Beijing in July. The financial talks in Beijing are being led on the U.S. side by Treasury Assistant Secretary for International Finance Brent Neiman, Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang and Financial Crimes Enforcement Director Andrea Gacki.
The group last met in San Francisco in November ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, where U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met and agreed to resume military-to-military communications and cooperate on curbing production of the deadly opioid fentanyl
Yellen also met at that time with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng and pledged to 'intensify communication' on economic issues with China.