A bank employee counts Chinese renminbi (RMB) or yuan bills next to U.S. dollar bills at a Kasikornbank in Bangkok, Thailand, January 26, 2023.
Athit Perawongmetha | Reuters
BEIJING – The United States and China signed agreements last week to cooperate on financial stability, according to a release from the People’s Bank of China on Monday.
The agreement was part of a meeting of the US-China Financial Working Group held in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday. Brent Neiman, assistant secretary of state for international finance at the US Treasury Department, and Xuan Changneng, deputy governor of the PBoC, co-chair the working group.
The two sides also exchanged a list of contact persons who could be contacted in the event of financial problems or risk events, according to the PBoC press release. A press release from the Ministry of Finance was not yet available as of early Monday afternoon (Beijing time).
Representatives from the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission also attended, the PBoC said.
The press release described the talks as “professional, pragmatic, open and constructive,” according to a translation of the Chinese statement by CNBC. Topics discussed included capital markets, cross-border payments and the monetary policies of the two countries, particularly in the context of China’s recently concluded third plenary session, the PBoC press release said.
Technical experts reported on each country’s systemically important global banks, the operational resilience of financial institutions and stress tests on climate risks.
China’s government bond market was marked by heightened volatility earlier this month amid reports of PBoC intervention. Central bank governor Pan Gongsheng said on state media on Thursday that China’s financial risks had declined, including local government debt.
Last week, American and Chinese financial institutions also met for their first roundtable meeting within the framework of the working group, the PBoC said, without naming any specific names. The institutions exchanged views on possible cooperation opportunities and discussed how the financial world can contribute to sustainable growth.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng launched economic and financial working groups in September 2023, within which representatives of the Treasury Department will meet regularly at the vice-ministerial level with representatives of the Treasury Department and the PBoC, respectively.
