Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urged the United States to loosen controls on the export of its hi-tech products to China.

Hu made the appeal when meeting with visiting U.S. President Barack Obama, who is on his first visit to China since he took office early this year.

Washington's restrictions on high-tech exports have "indeed affected unbalanced Sino-U.S. trade ties" and "strongly restrained the competitiveness of U.S.-made products," Yao Jian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, told a briefing on Monday.

Chinese hi-tech imports from the U.S. have shrunk since 2001. Eight years ago, the U.S. accounted for 18.3 percent of Chinese hi-tech imports -- it is now at 7 percent, said Yao.

At his meeting with Obama, Hu also called on the U.S. side to recognize China's market economy status at an early date.

Hu hoped that the U.S. side will further facilitate trade and investment between the two countries, and take a more active approach to promote the healthy, stable development of the bilateral economic and trade relations.

So far, 97 WTO members have recognized China's market economy status. But its major trade partners, such as the United States, the European Union, Japan and India, have not.