US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (L) shakes hands 
 with Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi during a meeting at Beijing airport March 
 7, 2007. [Reuters] 
   | 
US Treasury Secretary Henry 
Paulson Wednesday afternoon began his third China trip in seven months in 
preparation for the second round of China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue due to 
be held in May in Washington. 
Upon his arrival, Chinese State Councilor Wu Yi met with Paulson. Wu conveyed 
Chinese President Hu Jintao's oral message to his US counterpart George W. Bush 
through Paulson. 
Hu said China attaches importance to the Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue, 
and will make efforts to ensure it succeed to deepen the China-US relationship. 
Wu and Paulson held close-door talks prior to the official meeting. 
After the meeting, Paulson will fly to Shanghai, where he is scheduled to 
deliver a speech and meet with some businessmen. 
China and the United States launched the mechanism of the strategic economic 
dialogue last September. Wu Yi and Paulson co-chaired the dialogue as the 
special representatives of the presidents of the two countries. 
The dialogue will be held twice a year. The first round of dialogue was held 
last December in Beijing.  
Wu told Paulson that China is ready to make joint efforts with the United 
States to promote the success of the second round of dialogue, in a bid to 
enhance strategic mutual trust, realize mutual benefits and win-win results, and 
promote the all-round development of China-US constructive and cooperative 
relations. 
Paulson said President Bush attaches great importance to US-China strategic 
economic dialogue and makes it a key task of the Bush administration to advance 
the dialogue. 
Paulson expressed his willingness to closely cooperate with Wu to jointly 
promote the progress of the dialogue and fully carry out the important consensus 
reached by the two heads of states, in a bid to make contribution to the 
development of US-China constructive and cooperative relations.
Before leaving for China, Paulson told reporters that the relationship was 
very important for the United States and it should not perceive China as an 
economic enemy. 
"I would say that our relationship with China is multifaceted and it's a very 
important relationship for the US," said Paulson in an interview on ABC, calling 
for proper handling of the relationship with China "on a long-term 
basis".