Vice Premier He Lifeng and the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, on Thursday began two days of economic talks in San Francisco ahead of an expected meeting between the leaders of the two countries at next week's Apec summit.

The two first met during Yellen's visit to Beijing in July that was among a series of cabinet-level engagements. Both sides have indicated that they're working towards President Xi Jinping to meet his US counterpart Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Apec meeting, but it has not been finalised.

He, the nation's top economic official, said through an interpreter that his engagements with Yellen so far have been "constructive." But he added that the two sides needed to bring their relationship "back to a healthy and stable development."

He said he would communicate China’s "key concerns on the economy," including improving the investment and business environment and "to also take effective measures to bring our economic and trade relations back on track".

The San Francisco meetings mark the first in-person gatherings of new Sino-US economic and financial forums involving staff-level officials from both sides after their launch in October.

In opening remarks, Yellen said she wanted "an open and substantive discussion" on the Sino-US economic relationship, Beijing's subsidy practices and global challenges such as climate change and debt relief, among other issues.

"The United States has no desire to decouple from China: A full separation of our economies would be economically disastrous for both our countries, and for the world," she told He. (RTHK/Reuters)