BEIJING (AP) -- China's top trade envoy will visit the United States next week for talks that underscore booming commerce between the two countries, China's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Vice Premier Wang Qishan will meet Tuesday in Los Angeles with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
"Our business relations have been developing rapidly and expanding widely, so it's just natural to have some new problems cropping up," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.
The gathering is a regular meeting of the Chinese-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. Jiang said it would include more than a dozen Cabinet-level officials in fields ranging from public security to agriculture to banking.
China is under pressure from Washington and other trading partners over trade barriers and currency controls that they say add to its swollen trade surplus.
Jiang did not mention any specific problems but noted that total U.S.-Chinese trade last year topped $300 billion.
"We hope that two countries will have equal dialogues and solve the disputes through consultations," she said.
