U.S. looks to better China relationship

BEIJING (AP) — After years of acrimonious economic relations with China, the U.S. insists it wants to turn the page and develop closer ties with the world’s third-largest economy.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who arrived Sunday in Beijing for two days of talks with Chinese leaders, said he wanted to foster the same kind of working relationship with China that the United States has enjoyed for decades with European economic powers.

On his first visit to China as Treasury secretary, Geithner said the Obama administration was committed to forging a new relationship with China after trade disputes with the U.S. over the past decade.

Those fights have reflected record U.S. trade deficits with China. U.S. critics of China’s economic policies say they have contributed to the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs.

But China is America’s biggest creditor, holding $768 billion in Treasury securities. The U.S. also hopes China will play a positive role in resolving a tense dispute with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.

Ahead of his meetings, Geithner played down long-standing areas of disagreement such as China’s undervalued currency.

“We would like to build with China the kind of relationship we built with the G-7 over the last several decades,” Geithner told reporters traveling with him to Beijing. The Group of Seven includes the traditional economic powers — the U.S., Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.