US Treasury Secretary expresses "concern" over China's new export controls

BEIJING: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday expressed "concern" over China's newly unveiled export controls on two strategic raw materials critical to the global chipmaking industry, CNN reported. She made the remarks while speaking to a group of executives in China on the first day of her trip to the country.

The matter pertains to the curbs imposed by Beijing on overseas sales of gallium and germanium, elements essential to making semiconductors. On Monday, China imposed curbs on overseas sales of gallium and germanium, elements essential to making semiconductors

Beijing's move has become a growing source of friction between the world's top two economies. The move was widely seen as a response to the Biden administration's ban on advanced chip sales to China, which was announced in October last year, CNN reported. "I am...concerned about new export controls recently announced by China on two critical minerals used in technologies like semiconductors," CNN quoted Yellen as saying at a meeting of American business people in Beijing.

"We are still evaluating the impact of these actions, but they remind us of the importance of building resilient and diversified supply chains," she added. Earlier in the day, Yellen met Liu He, a former vice premier and previously her Chinese counterpart. She also met Yi Gang, governor of China's central bank.

Yellen's trip follows US President Joe Biden's directive after his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jiping last November to deepen communication between the US and China on a range of issues, including on the global macroeconomy and financial developments, the Treasury Department said in a statement on Sunday. Along with other US officials, Yellen has long signalled the Biden administration's desire to deepen communication and lower the temperature between the world's top two economies, CNN reported.

In April, Yellen in a testimony to the Congress stressed the importance of maintaining ties with China and said that "decoupling would be a big mistake,". Raising further concerns over the alleged human rights abuses in China and questionable trade policies, Yellen said that these issues must be "addressed."

In June, she told a group of top American CEOs that it is critical for the US to work with China on specific and urgent global challenges, CNN reported.