China warns of 'serious harm' to US trade ties: report
BEIJING (AFP) — Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren warned that "serious harm" would happen to trade relations with the United States if bills currently before US Congress are passed, state media said Sunday.
Xie made the remarks in an interview with China's state-run Xinhua news agency ahead of high-level economic talks between China and the United States this week.
"If some legislative bills currently before US Congress are passed, they will cause serious harm to China-US economic and trade cooperation and to the interests of the US itself," Xinhua said, quoting Xie.
He was not quoted as specifying which bills he was referring to, but Xinhua said he was commenting on more than 50 bills concerning Sino-US trade proposed by US Congress members since early 2007.
"It is worrying to see the rising trend of trade protectionism in the United States," Xinhua quoted him as saying, adding that he believed "cooperation still remains as the mainstay of Sino-US economic ties."
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will lead the US side for the twice-yearly talks of the "Strategic Economic Dialogue" on December 12-13.
The Chinese currency, which many in the United States think is too low giving Chinese exporters an unfair advantage, is likely to top the agenda.
