U.S., China stresses economic ties during Biden's visit

By Kim Young-gyo
HONG KONG, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States and China have stressed economic ties as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is set to wrap up his six-day visit to China on Monday.
Since his arrival in Beijing on Wednesday, Biden held a series of meetings with Chinese leaders to discuss bilateral issues, including the recent instability of the global economy.
"It's in our self interest that China continues to prosper," Biden told hundreds of students on Sunday at Sichuan University in Chengdu, the capital city of southwest Sichuan Province.
"A rising China will become a new partner "with whom we (the U.S.) can meet global challenges together," he said.
His talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Xi Jingping last week centered on economic uncertainties brought by Standard and Poor's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating earlier this month.
China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, followed by Japan. As of the end of June, China held U.S. government bonds worth US$1.16 trillion, up $5.7 billion from the previous month.
Being the largest holder of U.S. foreign debt, China has been concerned about the safety of its vast holdings of dollar assets.
The U.S. vice president reassured China of its huge holdings of U.S. financial assets and treasury bonds.
"You are safe," he said. "America today is by far the largest economy, with a gross domestic product of almost 15 trillion dollars, about two and a half times as large as China's.
"Please understand that no one cares more about this than we do. So our interest is not just to protect Chinese investment. We have an overarching interest in protecting our investment, and the United States has never defaulted and never will default."
Meanwhile, China pledged firm support to deepening win-win bilateral economic cooperation.
Hu said the two countries need to pull together as the world economic recovery is clouded by mounting instabilities and uncertainties, and global economic growth faces grim challenges.
"The two nations will have to boost market confidence in concerted efforts, and to revive the global economy," he said in the meeting with Biden.
The Chinese president further emphasized that the two countries should improve coordination of their macro-economic policies, and pursue their common goals of ensuring economic growth and stability, as well as deepening bilateral cooperation and cooperation among those under multilateral frameworks such as the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies.
ygkim@yna.co.kr