Legislation currently before the US Congress will cause serious harm to China-US economic and trade cooperation, news agency Xinhua quoted Finance Minister Xie Xuren as saying on Sunday. "The noise we hear now is unable to impede the further development of China-US economic and trade cooperation," Xie said in an interview with the agency.
The Xinhua report did not say what legislation he was referring to.
The remarks come just days before Beijing hosts a high-level delegation led by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Xinhua said Xie was worried about rising protectionism, but believed that cooperation was still the mainstay of China-US economic and trade relations.
"The two sides should properly address issues in current economic and trade relations through dialogue and consultation so as to jointly safeguard the mutually beneficial and win-win economic and trade relations between China and the United States," he said.
Last month, Beijing agreed to eliminate a dozen tax breaks and other subsidies the United States challenged at the World Trade Organisation, resolving one of a series of trade spats between the countries. US lawmakers welcomed the agreement but said more steps were needed to ensure China follows global trade rules.
The US trade deficit with China hit a record $234 billion in 2006 and is on track to surpass that this year, fuelling complaints in Congress about China's trade practices.