The two sides will focus on wide-ranging issues, including the bilateral trade imbalance, the renminbi exchange rate, further opening-up of China's financial sector to foreign competition and the ongoing poser of intellectual property rights protection.

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Restrictions on high-tech US exports to China will also be a priority topic.

The delegation is led by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

The meeting is the first under a twice-a-year strategic economic dialogue mechanism, brainstormed in Beijing in September.

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Paulson will co-chair the dialogue as representatives of President Hu Jintao and President George W. Bush.

Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao will meet members of the US delegation.

Paulson said in a bylined article "A Broad Dialogue with China" that the dialogue will focus on "three areas: maintaining sustainable growth without large trade imbalances; continuing to open markets to trade, competition and investment; and improving energy security and the environment."

Among Paulson's visiting delegation are US Cabinet secretaries of commerce, labor, energy and health and human services.

The dialogue will also involve Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank, who is paying his first visit to China, and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

"Through the strategic economic dialogue, we can work with China's leaders to help it achieve more environmentally and economically sound growth and constructive engagement with the global energy market," Paulson said.

Some analysts played down the importance of the talks.

"The significance of the dialogue is not to produce any achievements, but to enhance mutual understanding," said Niu Xinchun, a researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

China and the US will discuss common challenges, such as rural medical care, infectious diseases and an aging population, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael O. Leavitt, said at a press conference.

Other issues, such as the financing of medical costs, science and technological exchanges and regulatory cooperation, mainly on food, drug and medical devices, are also on Leavitt's agenda.

"We're coming to have this dialogue not only because we believe it's good for the Chinese government, but because we believe it's good for the United States for China to be a strong, vibrant, integrated, harmonious society," Leavitt said.

He met Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang yesterday, and attended the opening ceremony for a collaborative office between the Chinese and US centers for disease control.

According to a bilateral agreement in 2005, the office will focus on infectious diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and bird flu.

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