US to push for Chinese market opening in talks: Treasury chief

US to push for Chinese market opening in talks: Treasury chief

	Published : Tue, 22 May 2007 14:26 By : Agencies Print this Story

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Tuesday the drive to pry open the Chinese market will be a major focus of high-level bilateral economic talks opening in Washington.

Paulson, who will lead the US side in the discussions with a Chinese delegation headed by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, acknowledged the US public's concerns about China's growing economic might and the yawning US trade gap.

In a CNN television interview aired hours before the opening of the talks in Washington, Paulson said the economic relationship with China 'has benefited both of our countries'.

'Many people are looking at the fact that China is the fastest-growing global economy as a threat and what I want to do is seize an opportunity for American workers,' he said.

'We have a big focus on opening up the Chinese markets for US products and services. And that will be a big focus of our discussion today.'

A key issue the United States plans to pursue at the two-day meeting is China's currency, the yuan. US groups have accused Beijing of keeping the yuan grossly undervalued, making its exports cheaper and widening the trade deficit.

Asked about allegations that China was not playing fairly on trade, Paulson stressed the Chinese delegation's presence in Washington would allow Beijing to have a first-hand look at US views.

'There are a lot of people that don't believe the benefits of trade are being shared equally among our two countries and Congress reflects that sentiment,' he said.

'One of the benefits of having the Chinese here at this point in time is that they'll have an opportunity to go up and spend some time with Congress, learn from what our Congressional leaders have to say and hopefully Congress will benefit from the opportunity to talk directly with the Chinese.'

The focus of the two-day 'strategic economic dialogue' is likely to be China's yuan, which US groups say it is grossly undervalued and responsible for the widening trade gap.

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