The US said the talks had been "constructive" and had touched on sensitive issues such as reports of Chinese help for missile development in Pakistan, and America's plans to build a missile defense shield for itself and possibly its allies.

"It is clear there are many more areas of agreement than disagreement between the United States and China, particularly on broad policy directions," said John Holum, the head of the visiting US delegation, at a news conference after the talks.

Holum's visit and US Defense Secretary William Cohen's scheduled trip to China next week are indications both countries are ready to resume normal, top-level arms control discussions.

Military talks and contact, along with human rights dialogue, were frozen following the May 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing, which killed three Chinese nationals, injured more than 20 embassy staff and seriously damaged Sino-US relations.

Holum, who is the undersecretary of state for security and arms control and the top US arms control negotiator, met with Chinese negotiators led by Wang Guangya, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He reportedly also met with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi, People's Liberation Army's Deputy Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai, and the Chinese Communist Party's foreign affairs expert Liu Huaqiu.

Holum's agenda had not been an easy one, according to Joseph Prueher, US ambassador to China.

"Nonproliferation and weapons of mass destruction and the topics associated with them are really the most difficult and somewhat emotional topics that we discuss in our bilateral Sino-US relationship," Prueher said at the presser.

Holum said he had raised US concerns over reports that Chinese entities had provided assistance to missile programs in Pakistan and other countries.

"We held detailed, substantive discussions on the missile issue, and we made progress, but the issue remains unresolved," he said. "We agreed to hold further expert-level discussions in the near future."

He declined to say if the Chinese side had admitted to helping Pakistan build missiles.

During the talks the Chinese negotiators made clear their resistance to US plans to build an anti-missile defense system, which the US says it needs for protection against rogue states such as North Korea.

Beijing has objected even more adamantly to an inclusion of Taiwan in the US defense system, a possibility that the United States does not rule out.

This would significantly weaken China's capability of waging missile diplomacy against Taiwan, and has led to charges that an inclusion of Taiwan would amount to interference in China's internal affairs.

Some Chinese go one step further and see the entire missile defense system as targeted mainly at China.

"That's one of the reasons why I think this dialogue is extremely important," Holum said. "(It will help) underscore and confirm that we are not designing this system to be deployed against China and that we are satisfied with the stable deterrence relationship."

"We made clear to China that we take their concern seriously and we intend to address it," he said.

Even so, the missile shield is a crucial part of the United States' efforts to protect itself against the dangers of missile proliferation, according to Holum.

"Any country, however large or small, with missile and weapons of mass destruction capability that contemplates an attack on the United States must be aware it will suffer overwhelming and devastating response," he said.

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