China’s central bank said a meeting in Shanghai produced an agreement with the US Treasury to appoint contact people to deal with any future “financial stress events,” a rare example of the world’s two biggest economies seeking common ground.

The two sides also “exchanged lists of financial stability contacts” during the fifth meeting of the so-called Financial Working Group that was set up following Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China last year.

“The People’s Bank of China and the US Treasury Department signed an exchange of notes on strengthening China-US financial stability cooperation,” according to the readout from the PBOC about the meetings on August 15-16. It said the countries also “exchanged lists of financial stability contacts.”

The talks represented the first sit-down between senior US and Chinese economic officials since Beijing’s leadership laid out its longer-term priorities last month at a twice-a-decade conclave.

The meetings in Shanghai planned to focus on topics including macroeconomic and financial stability, governance of the International Monetary Fund and capital markets issues, according to a Treasury spokesperson commenting before the meeting.

The agreements will “enable the financial management departments of both sides to maintain timely and smooth communication channels and reduce uncertainty when financial stress events and financial institutions’ operational risks occur.”

For the first time, financial institutions participated in the meetings, according to the readout, which didn’t name the companies. Discussions covered sustainable finance and areas of possible cooperation, it said.

  - Bloomberg