Bessent Plans First Call With China Counterpart on Friday
- Treasury chief repeats call for China to rebalance economy
- Bessent says the yuan is ‘very difficult currency to value’
Scott Bessent during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, on Feb. 20.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/BloombergTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he will hold his first introductory call with his Chinese counterpart on Friday, and reiterated longstanding US calls for its biggest geostrategic rival to rebalance its economy toward domestic consumption.
“I do have my first call with my Chinese counterpart tomorrow morning, so I look forward to a very productive discussion,” Bessent said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Bloomberg Surveillance. Bessent didn’t identify his counterpart by name. His predecessor, Janet Yellen, engaged with Vice Premier He Lifeng, meeting with him in Beijing last April. A Treasury spokesperson didn’t respond to a request to specify who Bessent would speak with Friday.