Can 'good cop' Janet Yellen help fix US-China relations?

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is owed to get successful China arsenic portion of high-stakes attempts to rebuild bridges betwixt the world's 2 biggest economies.

It is the 2nd sojourn to Beijing by a elder Washington authoritative successful arsenic galore months and comes aft the countries' narration nose-dived this year.

The database of points of contention betwixt the US and China ranges from Taiwan and Ukraine to nationalist information and an ongoing commercialized dispute.

The sojourn besides comes conscionable days aft Beijing said it would curb exports of 2 cardinal materials utilized to marque machine chips.

Ms Yellen's caller comments that the 2 economies tin enactment unneurotic could beryllium important to the trip, which volition see her archetypal talks with China's caller Vice Premier He Lifeng.

As portion of the ongoing efforts to easiness tensions, Ms Yellen besides met China's ambassador to the US Xie Feng connected Monday for what was described by some sides arsenic a "frank and productive discussion".

However, "expectations should beryllium kept debased for the Yellen visit," Wendy Cutler, vice president astatine US-based deliberation vessel the Asia Society Policy Institute, told the BBC. "She is not successful a presumption to repair ties nor respond to Chinese requests to assistance export controls oregon tariffs."

This latest travel to China comes conscionable weeks aft US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's sojourn to Beijing, erstwhile helium met President Xi Jinping and overseas curate Qin Gang.

Mr Blinken was the highest-ranking Washington authoritative to sojourn the Chinese superior successful astir fractional a decade.

The meetings were seen arsenic a cardinal trial of whether the 2 countries could halt their narration deteriorating further.

At the extremity of his travel Mr Blinken said that, though determination were inactive large issues betwixt the US and China, his "hope and anticipation is we volition person amended communications, amended engagement going forward."

In different motion that the commercialized quality betwixt the 2 countries is acold from being resolved, China this week announced it was tightening controls implicit exports of 2 materials important to producing machine chips. From adjacent month, peculiar licences volition beryllium needed to export gallium and germanium from China, which is the world's biggest shaper of the metals.

The determination follows Washington's efforts successful the past twelvemonth to curb Chinese entree to immoderate precocious machine chips. In October, Washington announced it would necessitate licences for companies exporting chips to China utilizing US tools oregon software, nary substance wherever they are made successful the world.

The US and China look a analyzable acceptable of issues, said Priyanka Kishore from the concern forum IMA Asia.

"The authoritative rhetoric and visits by elder diplomats bespeak a tendency to found a moving governmental narration betwixt the 2 countries," she added. "But the actions suggest otherwise, with the tit-for-tat policies dominating."

During meetings with her counterparts successful Beijing Ms Yellen is expected to marque wide that the US volition proceed to support quality rights and its nationalist information interests.

However, she is besides expected to emphasise Washington's willingness to enactment with Beijing connected issues, including clime alteration and the problems faced by heavily-indebted countries.

While immoderate high-profile figures person called for the US to wholly interruption economical ties with China, Ms Yellen volition instrumentality a much placatory approach. She is expected to archer her counterparts successful Beijing that Washington does not mean to decouple the 2 economies.

This is successful enactment with her worldview, which is much globalist than immoderate of her predecessors, arsenic she outlined successful a code earlier this year: "A afloat separation of our economies would beryllium disastrous for some countries. It would beryllium destabilising for the remainder of the world."

"I would accidental it's a small spot similar bully cop, atrocious cop, Blinken being the atrocious cop," erstwhile International Monetary Fund main economist Ken Rogoff told the BBC.

"And present Yellen going successful arsenic the bully bull trying to say, look, you know, we person a batch successful common. Let's spot what we tin bash together," helium added.

In his relation arsenic caput of state, Mr Blinken had to rise immoderate hard issues, specified arsenic Taiwan and Ukraine, Mr Rogoff said.

However, Mr Rogoff cautioned that this should not beryllium taken arsenic a motion that Ms Yellen volition beryllium brushed connected Beijing arsenic she is apt to property Chinese officials connected a fig of issues, including intelligence spot laws and entree to markets.

Also, portion immoderate figures connected some sides of the US-China disagreement speech of splitting distant from 1 another, the world of the interdependence tin beryllium seen successful trading figures.

Trade betwixt the 2 countries grew successful 2022 for the 3rd twelvemonth successful a row, with authoritative figures showing China exported much than $536bn (£422.3bn) worthy of goods to the US past year, portion $154bn of goods went successful the different direction.

But adjacent arsenic Washington and Beijing effort to resoluteness their differences, the spectre of the US statesmanlike predetermination looms.

"If determination is simply a 2nd Biden medication opening aft 2024, connected the economical beforehand I expect loosening of galore of the Trump-era commercialized sanctions and tariffs, successful peculiar ones little related to precocious exertion sectors," Professor Eric Harwit of the Department of Asian Studies astatine the University of Hawaii said.

"However, if Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, each bets are off."