WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday China can play a major role in restoring global growth by continuing to encourage more consumption at home and exporting less.
Striking a theme at the start of a two-day U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Geithner avoided any mention of sensitive currency issues and instead focused on encouraging Beijing to recognize that strapped U.S. consumers can't keep powering the global economy.
"China's success in shifting the structure of the economy towards domestic-led growth, including a greater role for spending by China's citizens, will be a huge contribution to more rapid, balanced and sustained global growth," Geithner said in prepared remarks. (Reporting by Glenn Somerville; Editing by James Dalgleish)