Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi and top US officials met Monday in Beijing to exchange views on settling their trade disputes.

Wu Yi and US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and US Trade Representative Robert Portman jointly chaired the session, expected to focus on a number of hot trade issues ranging from textile disputes to intellectual property rights protection.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and US Secretary of Agriculture Michael Johanns are also participating in the one-day session.

Trade between the two countries have surged rapidly over the past years. In 2004, two-way trade hit 169.6 billion US dollars, about 69 times the figure in early 1979 when China and the United States established full diplomatic relations.

The United States is now China's second largest trading partner after the European Union while China is the third largest trading partner of the United States.

Source: Xinhua