Associated Press

Beijing, July 11:

Top US and Chinese trade officials began talks today on disputes over US limits on Chinese textile imports and complaints that Beijing is failing to stop rampant product piracy.

The delegations were led by US commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez and vice-premier Wu Yi, China’s top trade strategist.

Others attending the meeting included the US agriculture secretary and the American trade representative. China said Wu would press complaints about US controls imposed to stop a surge in imports of low-priced Chinese textiles that Washington says are harming American producers ever since a worldwide textile quota system ended on January 1.

Washington has unilaterally capped growth in imports of Chinese textiles at 7.5 per cent this year.

US officials say they will use the one-day long meeting to press for more aggressive Chinese enforcement of patents and copyrights. They say widespread copying of movies, music and other goods by Chinese pirates costs legitimate producers billions of dollars a year in lost sales.

“China must do more to significantly reduce infringement levels by increasing criminal prosecutions,” US trade representative Rob Portman said in a statement released before the talks.