(RTTNews) -  Laying the groundwork for US President Barack Obama's first visit to China next month, both the countries Thursday agreed not to introduce any new trade protection measures against each other.

This was decided at a meeting of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) held in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

Both sides also vowed to oppose trade and investment protectionism and follow the related consensus of the G20 summit.

US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, leading the American delegation, said it was "critical" to demonstrate that the two countries could work together despite simmering trade disputes in many areas, claims of protectionism and a wide US trade deficit with China.

The US trade deficit with China is the widest it has with any country, totaling $143.7 billion in the first eight months of this year -- down 15.1 percent from the corresponding period last year.

He highlighted the significance of this year's talks, saying it is the first JCCT meeting of Obama's administration and comes a few weeks ahead of his first visit to China.

Addressing a press conference after the talks, the US commerce chief described it as "successful," as both sides "made very significant progress on a number of issues."

He said China would drop a requirement that most of the components of wind power-related equipment be manufactured in China.
The US agreed to delete some articles in its bill that limited China's poultry exports for six years.

In return, China will resume imports of pork products from the swine-flu-hit areas in the United States.

Locke said China also promised to crack down on rampant Internet piracy.

China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming told reporters that both sides agreed that the solution for trade imbalance was not to limit China's exports to the United States, but strike a balance by aggressively boosting bilateral trade.

Vice-Prime Minister Wang Qishan, who led the Chinese delegation, urged both sides to "stand firmly against all forms of trade protectionism and work together to promote the recovery of economic growth."

He reminded that "Economic interdependence deepens day-by-day, and one cannot do without the other."

He expressed hope that Obama's visit in mid-November will "provide new opportunities for China-US cooperation."

The crucial trade talks were held at a time of increasing China-US trade disputes in the past months, involving Chinese tires, cement products, US poultry and others.

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