Visitors checked out American artist Tony Oursler’s currency work of art entitled “100 Yuan (People’s Republic of China).’’(Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)
Geithner visits Beijing amid currency dispute
Visitors checked out American artist Tony Oursler’s currency work of art entitled “100 Yuan (People’s Republic of China).’’(Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)
BEIJING — US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with a Chinese vice premier yesterday and discussed economic ties in a sign the two sides might be trying to cool their rhetoric in a dispute over China’s currency controls.
In a statement after their meeting, the Treasury Department did not say whether the two sides discussed currency. Calls to China’s Finance Ministry were not answered. But Geithner had been expected to press Washington’s case for Beijing to ease exchange-rate controls that critics say distort trade and keep China’s currency artificially low.
An undervalued Chinese currency makes Chinese goods cheaper for American consumers but hurts US exporters by making their products more expensive in China.
Geithner, who stopped in Beijing after a two-day visit to India, left for Washington after the meeting.
The decision to hold such a high-level encounter suggested Washington and Beijing are trying to narrow their differences over currency, which threaten to overshadow cooperation on the global economy, Iran’s nuclear program, and other issues.
“The two sides exchanged views on US-China economic relations, the global economic situation, and issues relating to the upcoming economic track dialogue of the second US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue,’’ the statement said.
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