MNI BRIEF: China, U.S. Discuss Currency, Financial Stability

China and the U.S. had a “professional, pragmatic, candid and constructive” communication at the first meeting of a new financial working group on Wednesday, where currency and financial stability, supervision, and regulation were discussed, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on Friday.

The discussion also included sustainable finance, anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and global financial governance. Both parties agreed to maintain communication, the statement said.

Attendees included senior officials from PBOC and the U.S. Treasury Department, as well as the State Administration of Financial Supervision, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Federal Reserve, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the statement.

The parallel economic working group, led by senior officials from China's Finance Ministry and the U.S. Treasury also held its first meeting on Tuesday. Both working groups were launched last month after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit to Beijing in July aimed at fostering regular communications between the world's two largest economies.