(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. [Agencies]

As for trade imbalance, China's commerce chief said both sides agreed at the JCCT talks that the solution was not to limit China's exports to the United States, but strike a balance by aggressively boosting bilateral trade.

China and the United States are each other's second-largest trading partners, with bilateral trade hitting US$211.87 billion from January to September in 2009, according to China Customs.

China and the United States also vowed to work together to tackle increasingly rampant piracy in areas like the Somali coast.

"China agreed to treat goods made in China by US joint venture firms as domestic products in government procurement tenders," US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said.

On China's status as a market economy, Locke recognized China's progress in this regard and said a working group will be set up to review China's market economy status.

The JCCT has played a crucial role in addressing China-US trade disputes. Bilateral trade soared in value from less than US$2.5 billion in 1979 to US$333.7 billion in 2008.

At Thursday's talks, the Chinese side included officials from the ministries of commerce, agriculture, science, environment, transportation, health, agriculture, press and publishing, and tourism.

The US delegation consisted of officials from the departments of commerce, the trade representative office, agriculture, state, treasury and the US embassy in China.

The JCCT includes more than 10 working groups that deal with specific trade issues like trade, investment, energy, science and technology, transportation, aerospace, health, environmental protection, tourism, food security, product quality and others.

The JCCT began in 1983 as a platform for both countries to promote trade and address issues of mutual concern.

At the end of Thursday's JCCT talks, China and the United States signed 11 trade deals covering mutual investment, high-tech and tourism, among others.

"Today's JCCT has laid a solid groundwork and made full preparations for President Obama's visit in two weeks, which will help build the positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-US relations toward the 21st century," China's commerce chief Chen Deming said.