Yellen warns China's companies against supporting Russia's war

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned companies in China against exporting products to Russia that could be used for Moscow's war against Ukraine.

"I stressed that companies, including those in [China], must not provide material support for Russia's war and that they will face significant consequences if they do," she said on Monday in Beijing at the end of her trip to China.

Yellen said all banks that transfer money to Russia in order to supply the Russian defence industry with military or other goods are at risk of US sanctions, too.

The US has already rolled out a raft of sanctions against Chinese companies for reasons relating to Russia. Washington has also sanctioned China over alleged human rights abuses and to slow its rival's ability to make highly advanced semiconductors that could give Beijing a technological lead, especially in its military.

Yellen arrived in China on Thursday. During her meetings with Vice Premier He Lifeng and Premier Li Qiang, one of the main topics was China's excess industrial capacity.

Beijing is accused of using industrial subsidies to flood global markets with artificially cheap goods, including renewable energy products.

Yellen said talks with China on overcapacity issues, as well as well "balanced growth in the domestic and global economies," would continue.

"During conversations this week, I underscored again that the United States does not seek to decouple from China. Our two economies are deeply integrated, and a wholesale separation would be disastrous for both of our economies," she said in a statement.