(CNN) — Beijing’s recently announced export controls on two strategic raw materials for chip manufacturing 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 he will try to stabilize bilateral relations after a particularly difficult period.
On Monday, China imposed restrictions on foreign sales of gallium and germanium, essential elements for making semiconductors, which are a source of friction between the world’s two largest economies.
The move was widely seen as a response to the Biden administration’s ban on selling advanced chips to China, announced last October.
“I am…concerned by China’s recently announced new export controls on two critical minerals used in technologies such as semiconductors,” she said. Yellen at a meeting of American businessmen 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,” Yellen said.
Earlier, Yellen met with Liu He, a former vice premier and formerly her Chinese counterpart, in what has been called “an old friends reunion.” She also met with Yi Gang, governor of the Chinese central bank.
