【纽约时报】In Beijing, Geithner Emphasizes Cooperation

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In Beijing, Geithner Emphasizes Cooperation  
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/world/asia/01china.html

By DAVID BARBOZA Published: June 1, 2009

In a speech at Peking University, Mr. Geithner encouraged China to diversify its economy away from a heavy reliance on exports while offering Beijing assurances that Washington intended to tackle its deficit and protect the value of China’s huge investment in United States government debt.

“We will cut our deficit, and we will eliminate the extraordinary government support that we have put in place to overcome the crisis,” Mr. Geithner told a gathering of students and faculty at the university.

This is Mr. Geithner’s first visit to Beijing since becoming Treasury secretary, and on Tuesday he is scheduled to meet with President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, as well as other high-ranking officials.

Under the pressures of the global economic downturn, relations between the United States and China are undergoing some fundamental changes. China is growing more assertive on the international stage, and Washington is seeking to find ways to cooperate with Beijing on everything from economic reforms to climate change.

China is the largest holder of United States government debt, and a growing number of Chinese officials and economists have expressed concern in recent months that the value of those debt holdings will plunge if inflation takes off or the dollar weakens further because of mounting U.S. deficits.

In fact, interest rates on United States Treasury notes have been rising lately, cutting their value by just over 5 percent.

Some Chinese economists are pressing Beijing to slow its accumulation of Treasury bills and others are even pushing for the creation of an alternative reserve currency as a hedge against the U.S. dollar.

Following Mr. Geithner’s speech Monday, a student asked the Treasury secretary whether China’s investments in the United States were safe.

He responded without hesitation. “Chinese financial assets are very safe,” Mr. Geithner said, eliciting some laughter. He then quickly said that the United States still has deep and liquid financial markets, and that the Obama administration is committed to tackling the deficit and maintaining a strong dollar.

In his speech, Mr. Geithner encouraged Beijing to work with Washington to create more balanced, sustainable growth for the nations’ economies.

“China and the United States individually and together are so important in the global economy and financial system that what we do has a direct impact on the stability and strength of the international economic system,” he said.
A rebalanced global economy would likely mean that the United States would save more and consume less, he said, and that China would encourage its own consumers to spend more and save less.

Mr. Geitchner touched on currency issues just briefly. Some economists have long argued that China keeps its currency intentionally weak in order to make exports to the United States cheaper, and the U.S. Treasury secretary did urge China to move toward a more flexible exchange rate. But he did not put much emphasis on the point.

Currency debates and trade frictions had flared between the United States and China during the administration of President George W. Bush, even though relations were solid overall. For now, the Obama administration seems determined to avoid tensions and to search for ways to cooperate with China.

Under Mr. Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. held regular meetings with officials in Beijing as part of the so-called the strategic economic dialogue.

The Obama administration has decided to broaden those discussions, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton taking part, in what is now being called the strategic and economic dialogue.

Mr. Geithner said that he would begin to discuss some of the pressing economic issues this week in Beijing, where he has been given a warm welcome. At Peking University, the school recognized his family’s contributions to China, calling the Geithners “friends of China.”

Mr. Geithner’s father, Peter F. Geithner, was the director of the Asia program of the Ford Foundation in the 1980s and opened its Beijing office. Under his leadership, in the 1980s and 1990s, the foundation offered support for many Chinese scholars to travel to the United States to study.

Mr. Geithner was also greeted at Peking University as an alumnus because he studied Chinese at the school in the summer of 1981, while he was a 19-year-old undergraduate at Dartmouth College.



In China, Geithner Backs Cooperation
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/world/asia/01china.html

By DAVID BARBOZA Published: June 1, 2009

BEIJING — Timothy F. Geithner, the U.S. Treasury secretary, said Monday that the global financial crisis seemed to be easing, but that the United States and China would have to work together to stabilize and rebalance the world economy.

In a speech at Peking University, Mr. Geithner encouraged China to diversify its economy away from a heavy reliance on exports while offering Beijing assurances that Washington intended to tackle its deficit and protect the value of China’s huge investment in United States government debt.

“We will cut our deficit, and we will eliminate the extraordinary government support that we have put in place to overcome the crisis,” Mr. Geithner told a gathering of students and faculty at the university.

A rebalanced global economy would likely mean that the United States would save more and consume less, he said, and that China would encourage its own consumers to spend more and save less.

This is Mr. Geithner’s first visit to Beijing since becoming Treasury secretary, and on Tuesday he is scheduled to meet with President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, as well as other high-ranking officials.

Under the pressures of the global economic downturn, relations between the United States and China are undergoing some fundamental changes. China is growing more assertive on the international stage, and Washington is seeking to find ways to cooperate with Beijing on everything from economic reforms to climate change.

China is the largest holder of U.S. government debt, and a growing number of Chinese officials and economists have expressed concern in recent months that the value of those debt holdings will plunge if inflation takes off or the dollar weakens further because of mounting U.S. deficits.

In fact, interest rates on U.S. Treasury notes have been rising lately, cutting their value by just over 5 percent.

Some Chinese economists are pressing Beijing to slow its accumulation of Treasury bills and others are even pushing for the creation of an alternative reserve currency as a hedge against the U.S. dollar.

Following Mr. Geithner’s speech Monday, a student asked the Treasury secretary whether China’s investments in the United States were safe.

He responded without hesitation. “Chinese financial assets are very safe,” Mr. Geithner said, eliciting some laughter. He then quickly said that the United States still had deep and liquid financial markets, and that the administration of President Barack Obama was committed to tackling the deficit and maintaining a strong dollar.

In his speech, Mr. Geithner encouraged Beijing to work with Washington to create more balanced, sustainable growth for the two countries’ economies.

“China and the United States individually and together are so important in the global economy and financial system that what we do has a direct impact on the stability and strength of the international economic system,” he said.

Mr. Geithner touched on currency issues just briefly. Some economists have long argued that China keeps its currency intentionally weak in order to make exports to the United States affordable, and the U.S. Treasury secretary did urge China to move toward a more flexible exchange rate. But he did not emphasize that point.

Currency debates and trade frictions had flared between the United States and China during the administration of President George W. Bush, even though relations were solid overall. For now, the Obama administration seems determined to avoid tensions and to search for ways to cooperate with China.

Under Mr. Bush, Henry M. Paulson Jr., the U.S. Treasury secretary, held regular meetings with officials in Beijing as part of the so-called the strategic economic dialogue.

The Obama administration has decided to broaden those discussions, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton taking part, in what is now being called the strategic and economic dialogue.

Mr. Geithner said that he would begin to discuss some of the pressing economic issues this week in Beijing, where he has been given a warm welcome. At Peking University, the school recognized his family’s contributions to China, calling the Geithners “friends of China.”

Mr. Geithner’s father, Peter F. Geithner, was the director of the Asia program of the Ford Foundation in the 1980s and opened its Beijing office. Under his leadership, in the 1980s and 1990s, the foundation offered support for many Chinese scholars to travel to the United States to study.