U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced on Sunday that she "looks forward" to working with China on issues of mutual interest, including debt restructuring for poorer countries and the need for multilateral development banks to implement reforms before any discussions on increasing their capital.
In prepared remarks for a press conference ahead of a meeting in India with finance ministers and central bank officials from G20 countries, Yellen stated that her visit to Beijing last week helped establish U.S.-China relations on a "more solid foundation," and that the world's largest economies have a commitment to "cooperate regarding areas of mutual interest."
Yellen remarked, "There is more work to be done. But I believe that visit was an important beginning... I look forward to building on this foundation established in Beijing to drive further actions." She added that Washington will continue to prevent Russia from accessing military equipment and technology needed by Moscow in its war in Ukraine.
Yellen noted, "One of our main goals this year is to counter Russia's efforts to evade our sanctions. Our alliance builds on the actions we've taken in the past few months to address those attempts." India is currently chairing the G20 and is seeking a largely neutral position regarding the war, having generally refrained from directly condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine while urging for a diplomatic solution, even as it increases its purchases of Russian oil at a time when Western nations are pressing Moscow.
Yellen stated that she will continue to advocate strongly at the G20 meeting in India for "full and timely participation of all official bilateral creditors in debt restructuring." She emphasized the need for specific "guidelines" for debt restructuring for borrowing countries and other stakeholders to provide complete clarity in the process.
