WASHINGTON, June 5: China should step up market-opening and currency reforms to help counter a “protectionist tide” in the United States, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Tuesday.

Paulson, in a Washington speech, reiterated that Beijing is moving too slowly in its currency and economic reforms at a time when the American public and lawmakers are increasingly impatient.

“We who believe in open economies are swimming against a strong protectionist tide these days,” Paulson said in his remarks prepared for delivery at the Heritage Foundation.—AFP