(L-R) US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman pose for photographers in Hangzhou October 29, 2009. They are participating in the 20th session of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT).

HANGZHOU, China: China and the United States kicked off an annual trade meeting on Thursday with both sides reiterating calls against protectionism, against a backdrop of friction over trade and the value of their currencies.

The annual Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting, held in a garden compound in the lakeside city of Hangzhou, comes just a few weeks before US president Barack Obama's first official trip to China.

The meeting between Chinese vice premier Wang Qishan and the US commerce secretary, trade representative and agriculture secretary is overshadowed by a number of trade disputes, including recent US decisions to set duties on Chinese products that US industry says are flooding US markets.

Wang called on his American guests to "stand firmly against all types of trade protectionism" while US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said Obama was "committed to free and fair trade".

"We must look to the future and cooperate to create balanced and sustainable trade, lifting more of our people out of poverty not just for our own citizens in China and the United States but indeed all around the world," Locke said.

"It is critical that we make definite, concrete, demonstrable progress today to demonstrate to our citizens and people of the whole world that US and China can work together."

About 75 US delegates from Washington and embassy officials attended the opening meeting, in which US Trade Representative Ron Kirk called for a mid-year review at the vice-ministerial level to identify problems before they come up.

Instead of formal trade barriers, the challenges to free trade will increasingly lie in the rules, regulations and behaviors of the two sides, Kirk said.

On his way to Hangzhou, Locke said the United States wants China's currency to climb further.

The US Commerce Department on Tuesday set preliminary duties on imports of steel grating and concrete steel wire strand, citing Chinese government subsidies. A final determination on the duties is due in January.

China has told the United States it will conduct a trade investigation on autos and sports utility vehicles made by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, the president of the American Automotive Policy Council told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Obama administration in September imposed safeguard duties on imports from China for the first time, with duties on tyres that Chinese officials warned would reduce their willingness to make concessions at this week's JCCT meeting.

China responded to the tyre duties by saying it would launch its own anti-dumping investigations into US poultry and autos, which together accounted for roughly the same value as the Chinese exports of tyres to the United States.