China-US ties on 'surer footing' after Beijing talks

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that her talks in Beijing – totalling around 10 hours over two days – were a step forward in efforts to put the US-China relationship on "surer footing".

Speaking at the end of a four-day trip on Sunday, Yellen added: "No one visit will solve our challenges overnight. But I expect that this trip will help build a resilient and productive channel of communication with China's new economic team."

Yellen said the objective of the visit was to establish and deepen ties to China's new economic team, reduce the risk of misunderstanding and pave the way for cooperation in areas such as climate crisis and debt distress.

She reiterated that Washington was not seeking to decouple from China's economy, adding doing so would be "disastrous for both countries and destabilising for the world."

But she said the United States wanted to see an "open, free and fair economy," not one that forces countries to take sides.

She said she used the discussions to raise "serious concerns" about what she called China's "unfair economic practices" and the recent uptick in coercive actions against US firms.

Yellen also discussed Russia's war in Ukraine with her Chinese interlocutors and said it was "essential" that Chinese firms avoid providing Russia with material support for the war, or evading sanctions.