US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday that the United States was impatient for forceful Chinese action to cut trade deficits.
But Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said Beijing would not yield to pressure.
"There is growing skepticism in each country about the other's intentions," Paulson said at the start of two days of talks with a top-level Chinese delegation and amid growing anger in the US Congress over China's huge trade surplus.
"Unfortunately, in America this is manifesting itself as anti-China sentiment as China becomes a symbol of the real and imagined downside of global competition," Paulson said.
Wu said politicizing differences over trade issues would only make matters worse - a shot across the bows of US lawmakers who threaten to restrict Chinese imports unless China's yuan currency appreciates.
While early signs suggested the talks would not produce much of substance, US officials said they were nonetheless important for advancing a dialogue between two countries that accounted for half of global economic growth in recent years.
"These are not negotiating sessions," US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said.
"This is not intended to walk out with specific short-term deliverables."
A US document prepared for the talks said there had "as yet been no agreements to take any concrete steps" on expanding foreign ownership in China's financial services sector, one of Paulson's principal goals.