BEIJING — China promised more currency reform to ease trade tensions but told Washington to get its own economy in order as the two sides opened high-level economic talks Thursday amid a global financial crisis.
The unusual Chinese appeal at the Strategic Economic Dialogue highlighted the close links between the world’s largest and fourth-largest economies and the global importance of their ability to keep relations smooth.
China’s envoy, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, said Beijing was contributing to global stability by keeping its own economy growing strongly.
The chief U.S. envoy, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, said engagement between China and the United States has helped in managing the crisis. Officials said both sides stressed the importance of cooperation to combat a potential rise in trade protectionism.
But in unusually pointed language, China’s central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, blamed the crisis on U.S. financial excesses and said they should be fixed.
“The important reasons for the U.S. financial crisis include excessive consumption and high leverage,” Zhou said in a speech to the meeting, according to Jin Qi, a central bank official who briefed reporters. “The United States should speed up domestic adjustment, raise its savings rate and reduce its trade and fiscal deficits.”
