Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan warned today that the global economy is in a grim state, and the visiting U.S. commerce secretary said China would spend $1.7 trillion on strategic sectors as Beijing seeks to bolster waning growth, Reuters reported.

Wang said an “unbalanced recovery” may be the best option to deal with what he had described on Saturday as a certain chronic global recession, suggesting that Beijing would bolster its own economy before it worries about global imbalances at the heart of trade tensions with Washington.

“An unbalanced recovery would be better than a balanced recession,” he said at the annual U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.

The comments, echoed by China’s vice finance minister, stopped short of suggesting China would try to boost exports as it had done during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, when it pegged the yuan to the doll

Instead, U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson told reporters that China had confirmed to U.S. officials that it planned to spend $1.7 trillion on strategic sectors during the next five years.

Beijing has previously said these sectors include alternative energy, biotechnology and advanced equipment manufacturing, underlining its aim to shift the growth engine of the world’s No.2 economy to cleaner and high-tech sectors.