US presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama have both vowed to press China on trade and to work with it on climate change if elected, and Mr Obama said he would make shifting Beijing's currency policies a priority.
Democratic candidate Mr Obama and Republican candidate Mr McCain laid out their views on Beijing's rising diplomatic and economic power in position papers published by the American Chamber of Commerce in China today.
Both senators want China to grant citizens wider rights, but stressed security, economic and environmental issues that make ties between Washington and Beijing globally important and often contentious.
The US trade deficit with China hit a record $256.3 billion in 2007. "Central to any rebalancing of our economic relationship must be change in currency practices," Mr Obama said in his policy paper.
"I will use all the diplomatic avenues available to seek a change in China's currency practices," he said.
Mr Obama said China pegs its yuan currency at an "artificially low rate," making its exports unfairly cheap.
He has backed legislation that would define currency manipulation as an illegal subsidy so that the United States could slap duties on more Chinese goods.
In his paper, Mr McCain accused his Democrat rival of "preying on the fears stoked by Asia's dynamism," but the Republican candidate also said "China has its obligations as well".
"(China's) commitment to open markets must include enforcement of international trade rules, protecting intellectual property, lowering manufacturing tariffs and fulfilment of its commitment to move to a market-determined currency," Mr McCain said.
Reuters