Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said China has noticed the United States' concern on its trade deficit with China and is working to solve this problem.

While meeting with US Senator Max Baucus and his party in Beijing Tuesday, Bo, less than one month at the post of commerce minister, said China is willing to further expand trade with the United States and welcomes US enterprises to participate in Chinese market competition.

"China will further open its market and import more from the United States and other countries as well, especially high-tech products," Bo assured Baucus, urging the United States to lift restrictions on exports of such products to China at an early date.

He also expressed appreciation for Baucus' contribution in promoting China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Bo said China's entering the WTO has been proven to be good for both China's development and the economic progress of the United States and other countries.

The Chinese and US economies are strongly complementary, the minister noted. Chinese exports to the United States were needed by the US market and were in the US' interest.

Bo said over half of Chinese exports were from foreign-funded enterprises, including many US companies, who also shared the benefits of China's market openness and expansion of trade.

On the protection of intellectual property rights, China holds a strong and unswerving stance. China has forged related laws, rules and regulations and will continue to crack down on violation of such rights, he said.

The US senator said the accession to the WTO was a big challenge for China and China has done a lot in implementing commitments on its accession. Many sectors have witnessed positive progress, especially in aspects of agriculture and tariff quotas, he said.

Baucus said he opposes appreciation of the RMB, the Chinese currency, in a short time, noting that will threw negative impact on Chinese economy.

After the meeting, Bo also met with Samuel Berger, the national security adviser to former US president. They exchanged views on bilateral trade, sources said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2004)