President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao met separately with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Beijing on Friday, reaffirming their commitment to the newly established high-level strategic economic dialogue between the two nations.

Calling the former head of investment bank Goldman Sachs "an old friend of China," Hu praised Paulson for his long-term positive contribution to economic and financial exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

He urged the two sides to take full advantage of the dialogue to discuss bilateral and global economic issues of common concern and "make suggestions and advice for high-level policy-making by the two nations."

He said he expected the new dialogue would complement existing bilateral dialogue and consultation mechanisms, such as the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, and would further enhance Sino-US economic ties.

Noting that the Sino-US economic relationship is one of the most important in the world, Paulson told the president in their 45-minute meeting that the dialogue will give both sides an opportunity to discuss important and long-term economic issues.

He said the talks would help both sides understand each other better and reduce economic risks, something which will benefit the entire world.

Beijing and Washington jointly announced a "strategic economic dialogue" on Wednesday after talks between Vice-Premier Wu Yi and Paulson, the special representative of US President George W. Bush. Both Wu and Paulson will lead the biannual consultations. 

During his three-day visit to Beijing, Paulson met several senior officials including Finance Minister Jin Renqing, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Ma Kai, chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, discussing the reform of China's currency, the opening of its financial sector to foreign competition and the protection of intellectual property rights.

Speaking on Thursday to students at Tsinghua University, President Hu's alma mater, Paulson repeated Washington's call for Beijing to open its capital market.

The US treasury chief, who took office in July, described the talks with China's leaders as "substantive, unscripted and spontaneous," according to reports.

He told Premier Wen earlier on Friday that the United States strongly supports China's reforms.

(China Daily September 23, 2006)