SEOUL, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The United States is seeing progress in its relationship with China over currency and trade issues, a senior Obama administration official said on Friday as Group of 20 leaders met.
"When you look past some of the heat we've seen recently and you look at what's happening in our very important relations with China, I'm very encouraged by the progress we've seen," the official told a news briefing.
"We've seen them move to let the exchange rate appreciate in response to market forces at an accelerated rate since September. China recognizes of course that's very important to its own growth in the future," the official added.
The U.S. briefing offered a more conciliatory tone than recent criticism of China's exchange rate policies from U.S. officials.
The official spoke after U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner met with Beijing's top economic officials, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and the head of China's central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan.
Geithner last month put off a decision on whether China is manipulating its currency for trade advantage until sometime after the G20 summit and a similar gathering in Yokohama, Japan, this weekend.
On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama also met with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
On the broader trade agenda with China, the senior U.S. official said China was "beginning to take steps to address the very important concerns that we have" on intellectual property protection and access to China's markets.
"We want to obviously build on that in preparation for President Hu's visit," the official said, referring to a planned trip to Washington early next year by the Chinese leader.
(Reporting by Alister Bull, Patricia Zengerle and David Lawder; Writing by David Lawder; Editing by Tomasz Janowski; G20 Newsroom, +82 2 800 1122)