In China, Paulson discusses energy

BEIJING - Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. called yesterday for closer U.S.-Chinese cooperation on energy conservation and for Beijing to cut import duties on environmental technology.

Speaking at a government think tank in the midst of a trip to discuss trade and other contentious issues, Paulson lauded China's recent steps to tighten environmental rules and said it could become a leader in deploying advanced technology for conservation.

"Technology must be developed and adopted at a faster pace," Paulson said, according to a text of his speech distributed by the Treasury Department. "U.S. and Chinese institutions need to manage the new demands of energy and environmental issues in innovative ways."

Washington and Beijing agreed in December to cooperate over the next 10 years on climate change, energy security, promoting sustainable use of natural resources, and other environmental issues.

The United States and China are the world's top two oil consumers.

"Only through greater cooperation will we be able to better organize our efforts and target some of the most pressing issues that the United States and China will face in the coming decade," Paulson said.

He met yesterday with Premier Wen Jiabao, who affirmed Beijing's commitment to the U.S.-Chinese Strategic Economic dialogue, which was launched in 2006 to address strains over China's soaring trade surplus and defuse demands by U.S. critics for punitive action. The next full meeting of the dialogue is set for June.

On Wednesday, Paulson met Chinese President Hu Jintao and Wang Qishan, Beijing's new point man on trade ties with Washington, and repeated a key theme of his trip: the need for Beijing to push ahead with liberalizing its state-dominated financial industries. He said Wednesday that the U.S. credit crisis might be making Chinese leaders hesitant.