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U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (2nd R, front) attends the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of the New Hope Oncology Center of United Family Healthcare in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2010. [Xinhua]

US Commence Secretary Gary Locke said on Friday that the US government is expected to completely overhaul its export control policies by this summer, which might pave the way for the sale of more high-technology goods to China.

"We are reviewing the entire list of our export control system as some of the protections and restrictions make very little sense," Locke said at a press briefing in Beijing.

The U.S. government is loosening controls over some commonly available high-tech goods, but will give more protection to the sensitive technologies that are important to national security, he said.

Locke also claimed that people often "overestimate" the export control laws of the United States.

"Currently, less than 1 percent of U.S. exports to China require a license. Of those that do require a license, 98 percent are approved," he said.

"Streamlining items on the export control list will cause the license to be issued more quickly," he added.

Locke, already in China for six days with the intent to boost clean energy sales in the country, will attend the all-important second Strategic and Economic Dialogue between Chinese and U.S. officials slated for next week in Beijing.

The reform of U.S. export control rules is on top of the agenda of Chinese officials in their discussions with their U.S. counterparts during the highest-level meeting.

Though Locke downplayed the impact of the control rules on the country's exports to China, some Chinese officials and experts said China is still facing many restrictions in importing military and even civilian technologies from the U.S.

As a result of the stringent controls imposed by the US, the nation's exports of high-tech products to China have declined from 18 percent of its total high-tech exports in 2003, to 7 percent in 2009, according to Yao Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese Vice-Minister of Commence Ma Xiuhong on Thursday urged the U.S. to take substantive measures to change its export control system. Otherwise the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries will face a "bottleneck," she said.

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