WASHINGTON, March 1: Non-proliferation of weapons is going to be taken up between China and the United States in talks here in Washington next week.

The director-general of the Chinese foreign ministry, Mr Liu Jieyi, and the US assistant secretary of state for arms control, Mr John Wolf, are both due to attend a seminar arranged by the Brookings Institution, the Moneterry Institute for International Studies and the China Institute of International Studies, and the two officials are expected to meet away from the conference table as well.

The US-China contact will come shortly after President George Bush’s visit to China last month. The US has said it remains concerned about China’s possible exports of nuclear and missile-related technology to Pakistan and Iran. Washington has also accused Beijing of not doing enough to control the export of dual-use technologies that have both civilian and military applications.

An agreement was reached between China and the US in 2000 to publish an export control list for dual-use technologies, and the Bush administration alleges that the Chinese have not fulfilled the commitment.

Some Chinese entities alleged to be involved in export of transfer of missile technology remain blacklisted by the US, and two Pakistani organizations, Suparco and the Atomic Energy Commission, also are still on the sanctions list under US law designed to implement the Missile Technology Control regime (MTCR), although all other sanctions against Pakistan have been waived.

The Bush administration has been treading carefully in its relations with Beijing following China’s pledge of support for the anti-terrorism campaign and Beijing’s acknowledged role in helping American efforts to defuse tensions between Pakistan and India.