Beijing's newly unveiled export controls on two strategic raw materials critical to the global chipmaking industry are a "concern," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a group of executives in China on the first day of her trip to the country, where she will try to stabilize bilateral relations after a particularly difficult period.
On Monday, China imposed curbs on overseas sales of gallium and germanium, elements essential to making semiconductors, which have become a growing source of friction between the world's top two economies.
The move was widely seen as a response to the Biden administration's ban on advanced chip sales to China, which was announced last October.
"I am ... concerned about new export controls recently announced by China on two critical minerals used in technologies like semiconductors," Yellen told a meeting of American business people in Beijing.
"We are still evaluating the impact of these actions, but they remind us of the importance of building resilient and diversified supply chains," said Yellen.
Earlier in the day, Yellen met Liu He, a former vice premier and previously her Chinese counterpart, in what has been called "a meeting of old friends." She also met Yi Gang, governor of China's central bank.
Yellen's trip follows US President Joe Biden's directive after his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jiping last November to deepen communication between the US and China on a range of issues, including on the global macroeconomy and financial developments, the Treasury Department said in a statement on Sunday.
Along with other US officials, Yellen has long signaled the Biden administration's desire to deepen communication and lower the temperature between the world's top two economies.
In testimony before Congress in April, Yellen stressed the importance of maintaining ties with China and said that "decoupling would be a big mistake," though she noted that alleged human rights abuses in China and questionable trade policies must be "addressed."
In June, she told a group of top American CEOs that it is critical for the US to work with China on specific and urgent global challenges.