Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and US Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans agreed this week that they are optimistic about a healthy growth trade relations between the two countries.

Secretary Evans arrived Tuesday in Beijing for Thursday's annual roundtable conference on intellectual property rights between China and the United States. He was later met by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Bo and Evans met Wednesday and exchanged views on key issues about China-US economic relations and trade, including market economy status, textile exports, protection of intellectual property rights, direct selling legislation, express mail service, wholesale and retailing services, trade deficit and anti-dumping issues.

China-US trade reached a historical high of 169.62 billion US dollars in 2004, up 34.3 percent from a year ago, according to Chinese customs statistics.

China exported 124.95 billion US dollars of goods to the United States, up 35.1 percent. Its imports from the U.S. grew 31.9 percent to 44.68 billion US dollars.

The United States was China's second largest trading partner after the European Union, while China was the fastest growing export market of the United States.

But the two countries have also been mired in a number of disputes. The Chinese minister said both countries should follow the principles set by their leaders and handle their disputes from a "strategic point of view."

Secretary Evans described last meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) last year as one of the "most constructive." The six working groups under the JCCT have convened meetings and expressed views on each other's concerns.

Evans said he believes US-China economic ties will continue to progress after he leaves the post of secretary of commerce.

The US secretary of commerce voiced the US concerns on the protection of intellectual property rights and a number of other issues. Bo said China has been working very hard to protect intellectual property rights and remarkable achievements have been made.