Vice Premier Wu Yi left Beijing Monday as the head of the Chinese government delegation to the US.

 

She will co-chair the 17th meeting of the Sino-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) in Washington with US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Trade Representative Rob Portman.

 

Li Changjiang, Minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, is a member of the delegation.

 

At a meeting in Beijing last week, Wu and Gutierrez vowed to improve bilateral trade and economic ties to create a "positive atmosphere" for the meeting between President Hu Jintao and US President George W. Bush in Washington next month.

 

Sino-US trade hit US$212 billion last year. China has become the fourth largest export market and the third largest trade partner of the US.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2006)