US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson arrived in Xining, capital
of northwest China's Qinghai Province Sunday evening, kicking off
his "environmental tour" in the country.
Paulson's tour in Qinghai, home to China's largest salt water
lake Qinghai Lake, includes visiting local environmental protection
programs. He will also visit some rural households in the remote
province on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, dubbed the "roof of the
world".
As special representative of the US President, Paulson will
visit China from July 29 to August 1 to exchange views on the
process of the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, China's
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced on Thursday.
Collaborating on energy and environmental challenges is one of
the key focuses of the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED)
launched by US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao last year to provide a focused and
effective framework for addressing issues of mutual concern.
Before flying to Xining, Paulson had made a brief stopover in
Beijing on Sunday afternoon. He will return to Beijing on Tuesday.
President Hu Jintao will meet him and Vice Premier Wu Yi will hold talks with him as Hu's special
representative.
This is Paulson's second visit to China this year, following his
short tour in March.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2007)
