We'll be promoting wastrelism... :0)
U.S. to urge more Chinese domestic consumption
Reuters - Friday, July 24
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON, July 23 - The United States will urge China to boost domestic demand and rely less on exports when officials from Washington and Beijing meet for two days next week, Obama administration officials said on Thursday.
With the U.S. economy likely facing a long, slow slog out of recession, Washington is set to argue at high-level talks here that Beijing can no longer count on free-spending U.S. consumers to fuel Chinese economic growth.
"We're going to talk about how China can restructure its economy and produce, in particular, more consumption-led growth," said David Loevinger, the U.S. Treasury's coordinator for the high-level talks.
He said the talks would include suggestions for financial reforms that would allow Chinese households more opportunities to build wealth, which should encourage them to spend more.
In the past, U.S. officials have urged Beijing to spend more on social programs to create a safety net so that Chinese consumers feel less driven to sock away big savings for medical or other emergencies and have more to spend.
"All this ultimately gets back to jobs in the U.S," Loevinger told a news briefing. "If the Chinese can increase their consumption, reduce their trade surplus, that's going to mean more U.S. exports, more U.S. jobs."
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