US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is scheduled to visit China this week in search of business opportunities and possible partnerships with Chinese companies.

Sources said the US trade chief will meet his Chinese counterpart Bo Xilai and Vice-Premier Wu Yi and tackle burning issues like trade imbalance and intellectual property rights.

Gutierrez is bringing to China a "high-powered mission" including representatives from 25 US firms from a broad range of industries such as electronics and pharmaceuticals.

The mission will aim to help US firms expand their exports to China, in a bid to reduce the United States' trade deficit with China. It will focus on assisting experienced American exporters to enter the Chinese market for the first time and helping US companies already operating in China increase their level of exports.

"Huge opportunities exist in China, but so do some major challenges," Gutierrez said before the visit. "This mission is designed to help US companies identify the opportunities and address the challenges."

China's trade surplus with the United States grew to US$102.2 billion in the first nine months this year. This growth has strained relations between China and its major trading partner.

"It is unrealistic to reverse the trend in the short term so China's trade surplus with the United States will continue to mount up," said Mei Xinyu, an expert with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Co-operation affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce.

Mei denied that the size of the trade surplus meant that China's trade policies were having limited effects. According to the five-year plan (2006-10) for commerce, China plans to reduce the trade surplus by increasing imports.

Analysts say the fundamental cause of the trade imbalance lies in China's high savings rates and the hegemonic position of the dollar in the international currency system.

They also noted that the US export control policy against China on high-tech products largely restricts the scale of its exports to China.

Reports say US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will lead a delegation to China in mid-December.

Paulson, who took over the position in July, visited China in September and is scheduled to return next month for the first round of talks to shape the long-term economic relationship between the two countries.

Editor: Yan