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BEIJING, Dec 5 (Reuters) - China is looking forward to candid discussions with the administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said on Friday.
In a closing statement after the fifth round of the cabinet-level Sino-American "Strategic Economic Dialogue", Wang said the two governments had agreed to extend the twice-a-year talks.
"Both sides think highly of the important role of the SED mechanism and its achievements. We both agreed that we should continue to enhance dialogue in the new circumstances," he said.
"We are looking forward to continuing the candid and pragmatic dialogue with the new U.S. administration," he added.
Repeating a message he delivered at the start of the talks, Wang said the current priority is to restore market confidence to avoid the spread of the financial crisis and avert recession, Wang said.
He said China and the United States would push for a conclusion to the World Trade Organisation's long-running Doha round of market-opening talks.
But the overall result of the negotiations had to be "balanced", Wang said, adding, "We are opposed to any form of protectionism."
He said the latest two days of discussions had covered issues dealing with the macroeconomy, financial regulation and investment and had produced more than 40 results. China and the United States had also agreed about the role of developing countries in international financial institutions, he said without going into specifics. (Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch and Zhou Xin; Writing by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Ken Wills)