Geithner Wants Closer Economic Ties to China

For years, the U.S. and China have had an uneasy and sometimes hostile economic relationship. Now, the U.S. wishes to put those times in the past and developer closer ties to China, which is the third largest economy in the world. U.S. Treasure Secretary Tim Geithner, who was in Beijing for talks with Chinese leader, noted that he was interested in forging an economic relationship with China roughly akin to the trade partnerships that the U.S. enjoys with European countries.

Many critics of Chinese economic policies have noted that those policies have cost millions of American jobs, while others point out the massive trade deficits that the U.S. has with China. Nonetheless, China’s status as the largest creditor of the United States makes for a somewhat uneasy relationship between the two countries at times. China currently holds $768 billion in Treasury securities, by far the largest holder of government debt.

Said Geithner of his vision of economic ties with China, "We would like to build with China the kind of relationship we built with the G-7 over the last several decades. We are seeing more durable stability in the economy and the financial system is in substantially better shape. We are committed to reforming the international system and our interests are best served by giving China a stake in that process." Geithner, who spent two summers at Peking University learning Mandarin Chinese, referenced his long-standing interest in China while speaking with Asian journalists. "I cannot actually speak Chinese with competence," noted Geithner, "I did study though for a long time, very hard. I practiced my characters very carefully."