U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Monday visited a major Chinese industrial center ahead of talks in Beijing and before American lawmakers vote on a proposed measure to punish China for alleged currency manipulation.

US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, seen in March 2006, said China risks a showdown with protectionists in Congress unless it gets serious about tackling rampant copyright theft. [AFP]

Gutierrez began his trip to Chongqing in China's southwest with a stop at an orphanage with teachers financed by U.S. donations.

The secretary talked to and played with orphans during the one-hour visit to the Chongqing Children's Welfare Institution, which has children ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers.

Donations from U.S. companies help to support a program that provides teachers to the orphanage to teach reading, dancing and painting.

The secretary was led on a tour of the orphanage by Jenny Bowen, the San Francisco woman who founded the program after adopting two Chinese girls in the early 1990s.

"It's wonderful. They look very happy," Gutierrez said. If donors "haven't been here, they should be here. Quite a sight. We've got to get more people to know about this."

Gutierrez is due in Beijing this week for talks ahead of a U.S. Senate deadline of Friday to vote on a proposed bill to impose 27.5 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.

Supporters of the measure say they hope it will push Beijing to raise the value of its currency, the yuan, which some U.S. manufacturers say is up to 40 percent too low and gives Chinese an unfair price advantage at the expense of foreign competitors.

Chinese authorities allow the yuan to trade in a restricted float against a basket of currencies, but it has only appreciated about 1 percent against the U.S. dollar since it was revalued last July.

Gutierrez said last week that he would be "very candid" in about U.S. expectations in meetings with Chinese officials and said Washington expects Beijing to be a "responsible stakeholder" in the global economy.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush faces growing pressure from Congress to deal with a U.S trade deficit with China that hit a record US$202 billion last year, a record with any country.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is due to visit the White House on April 24.