--- title: "Bessent: China Blocked the Joint G20 Communique in Asheville Over Trade Surplus Dispute" description: "U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that China blocked the joint G20 communique in Asheville over a trade surplus dispute. The remaining 19 countries backed the chair's statement." date: 2026-09-02T03:28:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/china-blocked-joint-g20-communique-bessent tags: [g20, china, us-treasury, trade-surplus, scott-bessent] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Bessent: China Blocked the Joint G20 Communique in Asheville Over Trade Surplus Dispute ![Scott Bessent speaking on China's blocking of the joint G20 communiqué in Asheville over the trade surplus dispute](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/02/kitay-zablokiroval-sovmestnoe-kommynike-g20-bessent/kitay-zablokiroval-sovmestnoe-kommynike-g20-bessent-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - Scott Bessent stated that China prevented the adoption of the joint G20 communique in Asheville over a trade surplus dispute. - According to Bessent, the other 19 G20 countries backed the chair's statement, which was published after the summit. - China, according to the statement, disagrees with the provisions on passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the task force on imbalances, the IMF's powers, and debt restructuring. At a press conference following the G20 summit in Asheville, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that China prevented the adoption of the group's joint communique due to disagreements over its own trade surplus. According to him, Beijing objected to several provisions of the final document, after which the remaining 19 countries backed an alternative chair's statement, which soon became publicly available. ### Washington's Position: "Unsustainable Surplus" "The country with the largest and most unsustainable current account surplus in the world, the PRC, objected. A non-market economy that constantly generates cheap exports is not sustainable," Bessent said. This wording reflects Washington's line, which in recent months has increasingly accused China of maintaining artificially depressed export prices and a structural imbalance that, in the assessment of the U.S. Treasury, undermines the stability of global trade. ### What Exactly Prompted Beijing's Disagreement According to the statement published after the summit, China expressed particular disagreement with the provisions on the free passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, on the establishment of a task force to further examine and mitigate trade imbalances, on the IMF's powers to monitor trade imbalances, and on provisions related to debt restructuring. Thus, the dispute went beyond the pure statistics of the surplus and touched on issues of maritime navigation and the mandate of international financial institutions. ### Contradictory Data It is important here to distinguish between two versions offered by different sources. The headlines of several publications (RBC-Ukraine, osnmedia, rosbalt) frame the event as a full blockage of the final G20 communique by China. Meanwhile, the text of Bessent's statement, reported via Bloomberg and Reuters, clarifies: it was specifically the *joint* communique that was blocked, while the *chair's statement* was supported by all the other 19 countries and published. In other words, the final document did appear in the public domain, but in a reduced, non-consensus form. The difference between "blocking the communique" and "rejecting the consensus text while retaining the chair's statement" is precisely the essence of the discrepancy in how the event is presented. ### Context: Economic Pressure on Iran The statement came against the backdrop of Bloomberg reports that Iran's partner countries are massively ignoring U.S. threats in connection with new, tougher sanctions. According to the outlet, Washington's attempt to stage an "economic offensive" proved largely ineffective due to China's position and the allies' reluctance to sever trade ties. In this light, Bessent's remarks about an "unsustainable" China can be viewed as a public justification for a course of continued pressure on Beijing. Bottom line: the G20 summit in Asheville concluded without a consensus communique, and the public dispute between Washington and Beijing over the trade surplus and the IMF's mandate will likely continue. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [China Objected to the Joint Communique Following the G20, Bessent Says](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/kitay-vistupiv-proti-spilnogo-komyunike-pidsumkami-1788319468.html) - Первичная передача заявления Бессента со ссылкой на Bloomberg и Reuters; содержит цитату и перечень пунктов несогласия Китая. - [Bessent: China Blocked the G20 Communique](https://www.osnmedia.ru/world/bessent-kitaj-zablokiroval-kommyunike-g20/) - Подтверждает атрибуцию заявления Бессенту и факт блокировки коммюнике. - [China Blocked the Joint Communique at the G20 Summit](https://www.rosbalt.ru/news/2026-09-02/kitay-zablokiroval-sovmestnoe-kommyunike-na-sammite-g20-5672791) - Подтверждает место (саммит G20) и суть блокировки совместного документа. - [Russia-Friendly Country Blocked the Final G20 Communique](https://news.rambler.ru/world/56998686-druzhestvennaya-rossii-strana-zablokirovala-itogovoe-kommyunike-g20/) - Подтверждает факт блокировки итогового коммюнике; формулировка «дружественная России» — редакционная оценка, не использована как факт. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: What did Scott Bessent say about China at the G20 summit? **A:** Bessent stated that China prevented the adoption of the joint G20 communique in Asheville over a dispute about its own trade surplus, calling the PRC's economy "unsustainable." ### Q: Did the other countries support the final document? **A:** According to Bessent, all the other 19 G20 countries backed the chair's statement, which soon became publicly available. ### Q: Which specific provisions did China disagree with? **A:** The provisions on the free passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, the establishment of a task force to mitigate trade imbalances, the IMF's powers to monitor imbalances, and debt restructuring. ### Q: Was the final G20 document published? **A:** It was specifically the joint (consensus) communique that was blocked; meanwhile, the chair's statement, supported by 19 countries, was published.