US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, in his opening remarks at a two-day "strategic economic dialogue" meeting with top Chinese officials, urged Beijing to take prompt action to redress "persistent trade and financial imbalances," saying Americans were "impatient."

American concerns over a burgeoning trade deficit with the Asian giant eclipsed the meeting as US lawmakers accused Beijing of keeping its yuan currency grossly undervalued to make its exports cheaper -- a key factor cited for the snowballing deficit that hit 232 billion dollars last year.

The lawmakers have threatened to push ahead with legislation imposing sanctions on Beijing if the Chinese refuse to budge on making their currency more flexible.

"Our policy disagreements are not about the direction of change but about the pace of change," Paulson told Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and 15 of her cabinet ministers attending the talks with an equally strong US delegation, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Paulson said the United States was "not afraid" of competition from China, which has emerged as a global manufacturing power and displaced the United States as the primary trading partner for many nations.

In an apparent reference to increasing anxiety in the US Congress, Paulson said there was growing "anti-China sentiment" as China became "a symbol of the real and imagined downside of global competition."