U.S., China sign product safety accord

BEIJING -- China and the United States signed agreements Tuesday to increase safeguards over Chinese products and to open up mid-sized Chinese cities to American imports, a move aimed at assuaging critics of Beijing's massive trade surplus.

The agreements came on the first day of a series of trade talks that Washington hopes will yield real progress on increasing U.S. exports to China.

Coinciding with talks, China announced that its global trade surplus totaled $26.28 billion in November, showing demand for low-cost Chinese goods has not waned despite recalls and warnings over faulty or tainted products, ranging from toothpaste to tires.

Trade officials from both sides warned of protectionism with the new trade figures likely to complicate talks. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said the answer was to boost U.S. exports rather than limit imports from China.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi attended a ceremony marking the opening of the New York Stock Exchange's representative office in Beijing -- a bid to attract more listings from China's rapidly expanding economy. They cut a red ribbon strewn across a brightly festooned stage at a villa on the scenic grounds of the Diaoyutai State Guest House, where Tuesday's talks were held.

In later remarks, Gutierrez praised a long-awaited tourism accord that allows Chinese groups to travel to the United States, saying that would "open a large and growing market for the U.S. travel and tourism industry."

Other agreements include the development and production of biofuels, opening China's second-tier cities to U.S. exports, and expanding U.S. access to Chinese markets for goods and services, from agriculture to telecommunications.

U.S. Health Secretary Mike Leavitt said two agreements on food and animal feed, drugs and medical devices, would "enhance the safety of scores of household items the American people consume on a daily basis."