Yellen sees ‘progress’ in rocky US-China ties

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said ten hours of bilateral meetings with senior Chinese officials in recent days were “direct” and “productive”, helping stabilise the often rocky relationship as her four-day Beijing trip ended. Before departing China, Ms Yellen said the United States and China remained at odds on a number of issues but she expressed confidence that her visit had advanced efforts to put the relationship on “surer footing”. “The US and China have significant disagreements,” Ms Yellen told a press conference at the US embassy in Beijing, citing Washington’s concerns about what she called “unfair economic practices”…