US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will visit China from next Thursday July 6 to Sunday July 9 for meetings with Chinese officials, her administration announced on Sunday.

The trip was confirmed a little later by the Chinese Ministry of Finance.

During the visit, President Joe Biden’s secretary of state will discuss with members of the Chinese government “the importance” it has for the two countries, the two largest economies in the world, “to responsibly manage the relationship [τους]”, according to the press release of its services.

Mrs. Yellen also referred to the need to have “direct communication on issues of concern” and to “work together to address global challenges,” the text says.

“We do not expect significant progress” in the relationship between the two countries “on this trip”, however, he noted, downplaying any expectations that an official of the US Treasury had.

However, “we expect to have constructive talks and to restore more long-term channels of communication” with China, he added.

Diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries have deteriorated dramatically since the presidency of Donald Trump.

In November 2022, current US President Joe Biden met for the first time in person since taking office with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and tried to de-escalate tensions.

In mid-June, his government’s foreign minister, Anthony Blinken, traveled to Beijing, where he was received by the Chinese head of state, a gesture seen as a diplomatic advance.

But during a campaign event in California late last month, Mr Biden called Xi Jinping a “dictator”, a statement Beijing described as a “provocation”.

Mr. Biden’s administration has also imposed restrictions on exports to China of microchips and other American technology in recent years.

In addition, it kept in place punitive tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump on billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports.

“During this trip what we want is to deepen and strengthen the frequency of communication between our countries and stabilize the [διμερή] relationship to avoid misunderstandings and expand our cooperation where possible,” a US Treasury official explained.