U.S. Treasury team heading to China in February to prepare Yellen’s trip -sources

By Brenda Goh and Andrea Shalal

DAVOS, Switzerland/DAKAR (Reuters) – A team of U.S. Treasury officials will visit China in February to prepare for a visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, two sources familiar with the plans told Reuters on Thursday.

Treasury announced Yellen’s plans to travel to China and welcome her counterparts to the United States in the “near future” following her meeting on Wednesday with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.A firm date for Yellen’s trip had yet to be set, awaiting expected changes in China’s economic leadership, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The trip was expected in coming months, with the date likely to be set after the Treasury staff visit to China, a second source said.

Yellen and Liu agreed on Wednesday to enhance communication about macroeconomic and financial issues during a “candid, substantive, and constructive” meeting in Zurich, their first in-person meeting since Yellen took office in early 2020.

The meeting was part of a broader Washington and Beijing push to increase bilateral communications following talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia in November.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Dakar and Brenda Goh in Davos; Editing by Howard Goller)