China Plays Down Trade Frictions with US

China has played down trade frictions with the United States by saying it is willing to settle disputes through dialogue ahead of a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to Washington.

Trade will be high on the agenda when Mr Wen heads for Washington on Sunday after the United States capped some imports of Chinese textiles and imposed tariffs on televisions last month. Those moves are seen to be motivated by US elections in 2004.

Beijing delayed trips to shop for US soybeans, wheat and cotton and threatened to slap duties on some US goods.

A report late yesterdau by China's Xinhua news agency, a mouthpiece for the Communist government, quoted experts as saying the recent trade disputes would not put the brakes on strong growth in bilateral trade.

The World Trade Organization member was willing to settle the disputes through dialogue and would help create favourable conditions for future trade development, it quoted Wang Youli, an analyst from a Ministry of Commerce think-tank as saying. "Sino-US trade will progress despite the disputes," he said.

Fast-growing China has become a hot political topic in the United States, where some law-makers have blamed the country's fixed exchange rate regime for keeping Chinese exports artificially cheap and stealing US jobs.

The United States scrapped controversial steel tariffs 16 months ahead of schedule on Thursday, averting a trade spat that threatened to strain ties with Europe and Asia.