Beijing and Washington should work together to ease rising protectionist sentiment in the US, visiting Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said on Wednesday.

He made the remarks after news was released about a delay in a Senate vote on proposed sanctions against Chinese imports linked to the value of the yuan.

Gutierrez, in a speech to US business people, appealed to Chinese leaders to help fight efforts to restrict trade.

"The voices in the US calling for protectionist policies are very real. There is a real protectionist and isolationist sentiment creeping up in our country," Gutierrez said.

"That is not good for trading relationships."

Gutierrez said an erosion of trade between the two countries would have a negative impact on the US economy and have even greater consequences for progress in China.

Admitting that the US derives significant benefit from commerce with China, he quoted latest American Chamber of Commerce survey results that about two-thirds of US companies had expanded the range of products and services offered in China.

Protectionism is the worst thing that can happen, he said, adding that the two sides should seek to resolve disputes with "candid dialogue".

Gutierrez also called on China to further open its markets and promote the enforcement of intellectual property rights protection.

On Tuesday, he met with Vice Premier Wu Yi and his Chinese counterpart Bo Xilai to "ensure the two countries use the China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) to achieve results."

This year's session of the JCCT, a top-level commercial dialogue mechanism, is scheduled for next month on the eve of talks between President Hu Jintao and US President George W. Bush in the US.

Gutierrez's talks with Bo covered a wide range of issues from market access and intellectual property rights to the trade deficit with China, according to a statement published Wednesday on the Ministry of Commerce website.

Bo told him that China was improving the transparency of trade policies and further opening its market according to its commitments to the World Trade Organization.

The sponsors of the US sanctions bill, Senators Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Charles Schumer, a Democrat, said on Tuesday that they would postpone a vote on the measure until September, saying they had seen signs of currency reform during their trip to China last week.

Many US manufacturers and politicians claim the yuan is undervalued by up to 40 percent, which gives Chinese exporters an unfair trade advantage and contributes to the US$202 billion trade deficit that the US had with China last year.

The proposed sanctions, if approved, would slap 27.5 percent tariffs on Chinese exports to the US if the yuan is not revalued.

But US senators should drop the vote altogether and not just postpone it, according to Mei Xinyu, a trade expert with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank of the Ministry of Commerce.

Also on Wednesday, Gutierrez met with Tian Lipu, commissioner of the Intellectual Property Office, to discuss China's efforts in protecting intellectual property rights.

"The US is willing to offer partnership and cooperation in intellectual property rights protection," Gutierrez said.

(China Daily March 30, 2006)