Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called on the U.S. to substantially relax restrictions at an early date on high-tech products export to China.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (R front) meets with former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry M. Paulson in Beijing, capital of China, April 6, 2011. [Ding Lin/Xinhua]

Li made the remarks when meeting with former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry M. Paulson in Beijing, who is in China for the upcoming annual meeting of the Boao Forum slated for mid-April in China's southern island province of Hainan.

Reaffirming China's adherence to opening up, Li said, "We hope the U.S. side would substantially ease restrictions on high-tech products export to China and create a level playing field, predictable and non-discriminating environment for Chinese enterprises investing in the U.S."

Recognizing economic and trade cooperation as the bedrock of the China-U.S. relationship, Li said the two countries would have new opportunities to deepen cooperation as China has begun implementation of its Five-Year Plan for 2011-2015 and the U.S. is restructuring its economy.

The global economic recovery still faced uncertainties, with deeply rooted problems unsolved and new risks building up, Li said, and he called for all countries to join hands against the challenges.

"China and the U.S. should carefully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and make concerted efforts to build a partnership of mutual respect and a win-win partnership," said Li.

Li spoke highly of Paulson's efforts to advance China-U.S. cooperation and expressed the hope that he would continue to play a positive role in this.

For his part, Paulson applauded China's performance in tackling the international financial crisis and maintaining a steady, relatively fast economic growth. Paulson said he would continue to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between the two sides.