Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Exclusive-G7 summit statement to target China's 'economic coercion' -source

Published 05/12/2023, 06:14 PM
Updated 05/13/2023, 01:27 AM
© Reuters. Italy's Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, Germany's Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Joachim Nagel, President of Germany's federal reserve Bundesbank, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Bank of Japan Gov

© Reuters. Italy's Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, Germany's Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Joachim Nagel, President of Germany's federal reserve Bundesbank, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Bank of Japan Gov

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries are set to discuss concern about China's use of "economic coercion" in its dealings abroad as part of their larger joint statement next week, according to a U.S. official familiar with the discussions.

The statement, a likely component of the overall communique that will be released by leaders during the May 19-21 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, is expected to be paired with a broader written proposal on how the seven advanced economies will work together to counter "economic coercion" from any country.

The main G7 statement is set to include "a section specific to China" with a list of concerns that include "economic coercion and other behavior that we have seen specifically from the [People's Republic of China]," the official said on Friday.

A separate "economic security statement will speak more to tools" used to counter coercive efforts from any countries responsible, including planning and coordination, the person said. In each case, the statements are to expected go further than prior statements by the G7.

U.S. President Joe Biden has made China a focus of his foreign policy, working to keep the tense and competitive relationship from veering into one of open conflict, including over self-ruled Taiwan.

The G7, which also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, is closely tied economically to China, the world's biggest exporter and a key market for many of the seven countries' companies. 

Last month, China called a statement by the G7 foreign ministers that touched on similar topics "full of arrogance, prejudice against China," and lodged complaints with this year's G7 host, Japan.

Under Biden's predecessor, President Donald Trump, G7 statements often offered only a cursory mention of issues involving China. The Biden administration has pushed for more direct statements.

The joint statement issued by all the G7 leaders every year is intended to signal that the powerful countries are aligned on a range of political and economic issues.

G7 members will also hold out the prospect of further cooperation with China on areas like climate.

"We're not for decoupling the U.S. and Chinese economy, we are for de-risking, we are for diversifying," said the U.S. official. "That principle is very unifying."

Negotiations over the precise language of the leaders' joint declarations are still subject to diplomacy and adjustment before they are released during summit.

CHINA TESTS G7 ALLIANCE

The G7 meeting will be a test of how much the members, all rich democracies, can agree on a common approach to China, the world's second largest economy.

The China terms have been a major subject of the talks currently underway by G7 finance leaders in Niigata, Japan, where they have focused on reducing "over-reliance" of their countries' supply chains on Chinese manufacturing, including by partnering with low- and middle-income countries.

"The U.S. wants to get something hard on paper down in terms of agreement and the other countries are interested, but they're not as interested in putting specifics down on paper on these various instruments and economic statecraft tools," said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center.

In particular, some G7 members are skeptical about signing on to controls on outbound investment in China.

The policies are being drafted partly to help deny China's military access to tools it could use to gain technological superiority, and many in the Biden administration see them as complementary to export controls restricting access to some semiconductors that have the same goal.

"Of course, each member of the G7 is to some extent going to carve their own path on China and yet there are also a set of kind of principles that unite the G7 in a common approach to China," said the U.S. official.

Traveling for the G7 finance meeting in Japan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that China had clearly used economic coercion with Australia and Lithuania.

© Reuters. Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), Tokiko Shimizu, executive director at the BOJ, Joachim Nagel, president of Deutsche Bundesbank, Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England (BOE), Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Bank of France, Ignazio Visco, governor of the Bank of Italy, prior to the central bank session of the Group of Seven (G-7) finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Niigata, Japan, on Saturday, May 13, 2023. Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via REUTERS

Hanging over the meeting was a lack of progress in resolving the U.S. debt ceiling stalemate. A scheduled meeting on Friday between Biden and top lawmakers was postponed until early next week as Biden's Democrats and Republicans seek a compromise to avoid a catastrophic default.

U.S. officials, nonetheless, expect the president to attend the two-day summit as planned, followed by trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia also aimed at shoring up Washington's approach to the China-dominated Asia-Pacific region.

Latest comments

who's coercing whom?
As usual they’ll drag there feet, and probably intentionally since China shows no real concern. Just political theatre by politicians and bureaucrats trying to justify their positions.
G7 ......Gangsta 7?
Only gangster act like this, no doubt G7 is called gangster 7.
Sounds like thief shout catch thief
translate to Indosesia Bahasa
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.