China bitter over U.S. trade actions

Shanghai, China -- Chinese leaders are angry about what they perceive as bullying behavior by the United States on trade issues, it was reported Saturday.

The increased strain between the two countries comes as China prepares to bring a delegation to Washington next week for high-level economic talks, the Washington Post reported.

The talks are to focus on technology exports and intellectual property.

The United States this year filed two lawsuits and imposed steep tariffs on imports from China in an aggressive move against trade violations.

The actions angered Chinese leaders, but in a slight concession the Chinese agreed Friday to loosen controls on the value of their currency, the yuan, the Post reported. The Chinese also are expected to bring to the talks $4.3 billion in high-technology contracts for American products.

With Democrats in control of the U.S. Congress and a presidential campaign looming, there is growing impatience with China and a number of anti-Chinese trade bills are pending in Congress, the Post reported.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.