US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, confirming his reputation as a veritable China hand, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon for his third China trip in seven months ahead of the second round of the China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue to convene in Washington in May.

Upon arriving, Paulson was met by Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi, who relayed a President Hu Jintao's message for his US counterpart George W. Bush.

Hu spoke of the importance China places in the Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue, and vowed to continue efforts to deepen the partnership.

After an official meeting with Wu, Paulson will fly to Shanghai, to meet with local business leaders.

The dialogue was formerly launched by China and the US last September with Wu and Paulson acting as their two countries' special representatives. It is to be held biannually with the first round completed last December in Beijing.

The topics for the second round in May will cover a lot of ground, including innovation, education and bilateral trade relations.

Wu told Paulson that China would collaborate with the United States in ensuring the second round goes ahead in an atmosphere of mutual trust in order to accomplish real results, and further develop constructive relations between the two world powers.

Paulson replied by saying President Bush also viewed the US-China strategic economic dialogue as an important issue and considered it a priority to move this dialogue forward.

Paulson saw collaboration with Wu as crucial to jointly promoting the dialogue in the future while also implementing the consensus reached by their respective presidents.

Prior to departing for China, Paulson had sought to defuse tension by telling reporters of how China was not an economic enemy of the US.

"I would say that our relationship with China is multifaceted and is of great importance to the US," said Paulson during an interview with ABC, calling for the relationship with China to be handled appropriately with a long-term plan in mind. 

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2007)