Rural health care, infectious diseases and the ageing population are among the key issues that will be discussed at the Sino-US strategic economic dialogue that starts today in Beijing, a top US health official said yesterday.

Visiting Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt said the talks would also focus on financing of medical costs, as well as science and technology exchanges including better integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Leavitt, a member of the high-level delegation headed by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, started his trip to China earlier; and has visited Chengdu, Guangzhou and Beijing during the past week.

"We are 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 and harmonious society," Leavitt told a news briefing.

"We want to see how we can be helpful because we will benefit economically if China is prosperous and their environment and their health care and their energy and all the other parts of the society are sustainable," he said.

Leavitt said rural health care and the financing of medical costs, which are challenges for both China and the United States, would be one of the priority areas during the dialogue.

He also said he would discuss China's rapidly increasing ageing population, as well as the importance of food safety and a safe supply of medicines.

To deal with infectious diseases, a collaborative office between the Chinese and US centres for disease control and prevention was established yesterday in Beijing.

The office, where experts from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will also work, will focus on diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and avian influenza, Leavitt said.

He also met his Chinese counterpart Gao Qiang yesterday.

(China Daily 12/14/2006 page1)