The Bush administration told China on Thursday that it will be looking for concrete actions to lower trade tensions between the two nations in advance of a U.S. visit next month by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who will hold talks with Chinese officials next week in Beijing, said his message would be that the administration was looking for China to play a responsible role in the global trading community.
"This is a time for results," Gutierrez said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We will be very candid abour our expectations and about where we believe that action needs to take place in order for China to achieve that role as a responsible stakeholder" in the global economy.
Gutierrez is scheduled to leave Saturday for a trip in which he will meet with the country's top economic officials in Beijing to review the agenda for talks in Washington scheduled for April 11 of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.
At the last meeting in July of that panel, which includes top economic officials of both countries, China made a number of commitments aimed at boosting U.S. export sales.
Gutierrez said the administration planned to use the upcoming meeting to determine how much progress China has made in meeting those commitments in such areas as reducing barriers to the sale of U.S. and other foreign goods in China and cracking down on widespread piracy of U.S. copyrighted material such as computer programs, movies and music.
