Biden: US-China relations crucial to economic stability

Thursday, August 18, 2011


US Vice-President Joe Biden has told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that global economic stability rests on the US and China finding common ground.

Speaking on the first day of an official visit to China, Mr Biden said a close relationship with China was of the "utmost importance".

The trip comes amid mounting tension between the two over America's debt.

China is the US government's biggest foreign creditor and has been critical of America's "addiction to debt".

Chinese state-run media has been scathing over the recent political showdown in the US over how to increase the debt ceiling and avert a financial default.

China holds $1tn (£608bn) of US debt, and has called on the country to do more to reduce its budget deficit.

Earlier this month, the US also suffered an historic credit rating downgrade by rating agency Standard & Poor's.

The downgrade was a major embarrassment for the administration of US President Barack Obama.

Analysts say China is also clearly worried about its holding and about criticism at home for having so much of the country's savings in US investments.

0 comments:

Post a Comment