WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The United States said it welcomed new Chinese commitments to allow a staged reopening of its market to U.S beef and to increase purchases of legal U.S. software.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on Wednesday the United States had made important progress on a number of agriculture and intellectual property concerns in talks this week with Chinese officials.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said a U.S. team would visit China in early January for talks on the beef issue. He also welcomed a Chinese decision to lift a ban on poultry from two U.S. states that was imposed because of disease concerns. (Reporting by Doug Palmer)