The New York Times reports that top Chinese financial officials are exhorting their U.S. counterparts to reform along no such ambiguous lines during the Strategic Economic Dialogue in Beijing. China’s central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, said:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson here with President Hu Jintao
”The important reasons for the U.S. financial crisis include excessive consumption and high leverage,” Zhou said in a speech to the meeting, according to Jin Qi, a central bank official who briefed reporters. ”The United States should speed up domestic adjustment, raise its savings rate and reduce its trade and fiscal deficits.”
Then, from Vice Premier Wang Qishan:
Speaking earlier as Paulson listened, Wang appealed to Washington to ”take the necessary measures to stabilize the economy and financial markets, as well as to guarantee the safety of China’s assets and investments in the United States.”
Wang did not elaborate, but Beijing owns $585 billion in Treasury debt that has helped to finance U.S. budget deficits, and a weak dollar and financial turmoil have fueled Chinese anxiety about such investments.
Similar concerns over investing in the U.S. were voiced by Lou Jiwei, chief executive of the China Investment Corporation in this CDT post.
