(Feb 7): US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wants to visit China this year, a US delegation told officials in Beijing, evidence that ties between the two economic superpowers are further stabilising.

The US group relayed the message during meetings this week with Chinese officials including Vice Premier He Lifeng, the Treasury Department said in a statement on Tuesday. Yellen said in a meeting with He in the US in November that she plans to visit China again in 2024.

The US officials also “frankly raised issues of concern, including China’s industrial policy practices and overcapacity, and the resulting impact on US workers and firms”, Treasury said. It added that the delegation reiterated that the US isn’t seeking economic decoupling.

China raised its worries about tariffs, investment restrictions and its companies getting hit with sanctions, the Finance Ministry in Beijing said in a statement. He Lifeng told Jay Shambaugh, the under secretary for international affairs, that the two nations should stabilise and develop economic ties, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The discussions mark the latest re-engagement efforts between between the countries after ties soured in recent years over issues including tech curbs, espionage fears, Taiwan and more. They were the latest round of an “economic working group” established last year as part of a broader drive by the Biden administration to maintain channels of communication with its geopolitical rival while also pursuing policies to protect national security.

Yellen last visited Beijing in July 2023, a trip that offered a way for the US and China to contain damage in their economies from their intensifying rivalry. She has argued that it is crucial to engage in ways that could prevent a wide range of potential crises from diplomatic to financial.

American and Chinese officials recently held talks on curbing the flow of fentanyl, as part of a flurry of diplomatic exchanges between the countries. US President Joe Biden is eager to show progress in the fight against synthetic opioids before the election in November. The fentanyl crisis has caused US deaths due to overdose to skyrocket in the last decade.

In a further sign the two nations are trying to work through their differences, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen held a video call on Tuesday with Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago. Wang expressed concern with US semiconductor control measures, the Commerce Ministry in Beijing said in a statement, adding that China is willing to work with the US to improve cooperation.

The US-China relationship has improved since Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in the US in November last year, though issues including trade and export controls remain major areas of contention.

Last year, the Biden administration escalated restrictions on China’s access to cutting-edge chips capable of training artificial intelligence models from the likes of Nvidia Corp and other US suppliers. American officials have cited military concerns for the tech curbs, while Beijing’s diplomats say they overstretch the concept of national security.

Xi said in January that his nation wants to work with the US to improve the relationship. Those comments come as policymakers in Beijing sort through problems such as an economic recovery hampered by an unfolding property crisis and deflation, issues that have become a key concern for stock investors.

Later in the month, top officials from the two nations discussed scheduling a Xi-Biden call for this spring.