BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said here Tuesday that China is willing to further expand trade with the United States and welcomes US enterprises to participate in Chinese market competition.

    Bo made the remarks while meeting with US Senator Max Baucus and his party and also expressed appreciation for Baucus' contribution in promoting China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

    China's entering the WTO has been proven to be good for both China's development and the economic progress of the United Statesand other countries, Bo said.

    On the US trade deficit with China, Bo said China has noticed the United States' concern on that issue and adopted a series of measures to solve the problem.

    "China will further open its market and import more from the United States and other countries as well, especially high-tech products," Bo said, urging the United States to lift restrictions on exports of such products to China at an early date.

    The Chinese and US economies are strongly complementary, the minister noted.

    Chinese exports to the United States were needed by the US market and were in the US' interest, the minister said.

    Meanwhile, over half of Chinese exports were from foreign-funded enterprises, including many US companies, who also shared the benefits of China's market openness and expansion of trade, Bosaid.

    On the protection of intellectual property rights, China holds a strong and unswerving stance. China has forged related laws, rules and regulations and will continue to crack down on violationof such rights, he said.

    The US senator said the accession to the WTO was a big challenge for China and China has done a lot in implementing commitments on its accession. Many sectors have witnessed positive progress, especially in aspects of agriculture and tariff quotas, he said.

    Baucus said he opposes appreciation of the RMB, the Chinese currency, in a short time, noting that will threw negative impact on Chinese economy.

    After the meeting, Bo also met with Samuel Berger, the national security adviser to former US president. They exchanged views on bilateral trade, sources said. Enditem