China and the United States wrapped up their annual trade negotiations here Tuesday with consensus reached on a series of issues.

US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez (L), Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi (C) and US Trade Representative Rob Portman attend a news conference following the annual meeting of the US-China Joint Comission on Commerce and Trade in Washington April 11, 2006. [Reuters]

At the day-long meeting, the two sides agreed that the China-U.S. High Technology and Strategic Item Trading Working Group will be established under the China-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) framework, the officials said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The two sides also agreed to continue the Informal Steel Dialogue, start and strengthen the intellectual property protection mechanism, and further enhance cooperation in the sector of tourism.

In addition, China agreed to conditionally resume imports of U.S. beef, while the United States said it would push ahead with the lifting of the ban on importing processed poultry meat from China.

The 17th JCCT meeting was jointly chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman.

Stressing that economic and trade cooperation is an important component of Sino-U.S. relations, Wu Yi said that the 17th JCCT meeting reflected the spirits of "Mutual benefit, development and win-win" and demonstrated the will of both sides to properly solve problems through equal consultations and to promote the steady development of China-U.S. economic and trade relations through strengthened cooperation.

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