国内英语新闻:China, U.S. pledge no new trade protection measures as Obama's visit in sight

China and the United States are each other's second-largest trading partners, with bilateral trade hitting 211.87 billion U.S. dollars from January to September in 2009, according to China Customs.

    China and the United States also vowed to work together to tackle increasingly rampant piracy in areas like the Somali coast.

    China and the United State will also step up tourism cooperation, China's tourism chief Shao Qiwei said. Now Chinese citizens in 21 provincial areas, rather than the previously nine, will be allowed to conduct group tour in the United States.

    "China agreed to treat goods made in China by U.S. joint venture firms as domestic products in government procurement tenders," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said.

    On China's status as a market economy, Locke recognized China's progress in this regard and said a working group will be set up to review China's market economy status.

    The JCCT has played a crucial role in addressing China-U.S. trade disputes. Bilateral trade soared in value from less than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 1979 to 333.7 billion dollars in 2008.

    At Thursday's talks, the Chinese side included officials from the ministries of commerce, agriculture, science, environment, transportation, health, agriculture, press and publishing, and tourism.

    The U.S. delegation consisted of officials from the departments of commerce, the trade representative office, agriculture, state, treasury and the U.S. embassy in China.

    The JCCT includes more than 10 working groups that deal with specific trade issues like trade, investment, energy, science and technology, transportation, aerospace, health, environmental protection, tourism, food security, product quality and others.

    The JCCT began in 1983 as a platform for both countries to promote trade and address issues of mutual concern.

    At the end of Thursday's JCCT talks, China and the United States signed 11 trade deals covering mutual investment, high-tech and tourism, among others.

    "Today's JCCT has laid a solid groundwork and made full preparations for President Obama's visit in two weeks, which will help build the positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-U.S. relations toward the 21st century," China's commerce chief Chen Deming said.