ANALYSIS: New US-China Working Groups Hope to Prevent China’s ‘Lehman Moment’

Fifteen years after the firm’s collapse triggered financial chaos, economic and financial working groups aim to soften the impact of China’s economic crisis.

A woman walks past Chinese yuan and U.S. dollar symbols in Hong Kong on November 28, 2012. Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Treasury Department has recently forged working groups with China on economic and financial matters. A China affairs observer believes the move is designed to minimize the risk of a significant shock to the United States and the world in the event of a Chinese economic collapse.

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced Sept. 22 that one of the groups will focus on economic topics, working with China’s Ministry of Finance, and the other on financial topics, partnering with China’s Central Bank (the People’s Bank of China).