Former U.S. treasury chief says financial decoupling from China not in American interests

Containers of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited are seen at the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles County, the United States, Feb. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

"Wholesale financial decoupling is impossible, and partial decoupling is likely to make the U.S., China and the world more susceptible to financial crises," said former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson.

SINGAPORE, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- At an economic forum on Thursday, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson rebutted the voice calling for financially decoupling the United States from China, saying such a move is not in American interests.

"Wholesale financial decoupling is impossible, and partial decoupling is likely to make the U.S., China and the world more susceptible to financial crises," Paulson said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum held in Singapore, according to The Straits Times.

Photo taken on June 19, 2019 shows toys made in China at a shop in Orlando, Florida, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"It is crucial to have a mechanism for the world's first- and second-largest economies to coordinate, as this is the only way to put out the next big financial and economic fire," he said.

The United States benefits from having its financial institutions operating in China on a level playing field, he added.

He said he hardly thinks it is in American interests to walk headlong down the path of a wholesale decoupling from China.

"The rest of the world isn't going there," he said.

It is not wise for the United States alone to break global supply chains and cut off U.S. workers from some of the largest and fastest growing markets in the future.

"Without cooperation in the internal system, there will be chaos," he added.