Yellen: China’s economy cannot be “separated” from the US economy

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen believes that decoupling the Chinese and US economies is neither desirable nor feasible. “The separation of the two largest economies in the world would destabilize the global economy,” she said during a visit to Beijing today (local time). It would be practically impossible.”

In recent months, the United States has begun to restrict China’s access to what Washington considers particularly important technologies. This approach has been called “de-risking”: the dependencies on the world’s second largest economy and the resulting security risks must be reduced. “We want to diversify, not separate,” Yellen said now.

On Monday, the Chinese government announced that it would restrict exports of gallium and germanium, which are key components for chip production, from the beginning of August. The move is seen as a response to US restrictions on semiconductor exports to China, although in the run-up to Yellen’s visit Beijing claimed it was “not targeting any country” with the measures.

However, the US Treasury Secretary expressed “concern” in discussions with US businessmen in China. “We are still assessing the impact of these measures, but they remind us of the importance of building resilient and diverse supply chains.”

Yelin arrived in the People’s Republic of China yesterday for a four-day visit. According to official information, there are a number of issues on the agenda, including the state of the global economy, climate change, and the debt burden of poor countries.