The two governments announced they would launch new high-level talks the week of July 27, reviving a dialogue carried out under the former US administration and broadening the agenda to include foreign policy concerns.

Move to revive growth

Geithner said that in two days of talks, Chinese officials recognised the need to move aggressively to revive growth and stabilise the banking system even at the cost of higher US government budget deficits.

"I think we've already demonstrated the capacity of our two countries to work together on the global stage to lay a foundation for economic recovery," Geithner said in a meeting with President Hu Jintao as he wrapped up his visit.

"And I think partly because of the strengths of the actions put in place by your government and by President Obama we're starting to see some early signs of stabilisation and recovery in the global economy."

China is the largest owner of US Treasury securities and Geithner assured Chinese leaders that President Barack Obama was committed to tackling soaring budget deficits that have stirred unease about the value of Beijing's holdings.

Government debt

Premier Wen Jiabao roiled financial markets in March when he expressed concern about the safety of China's holdings of US government debt.

In the public part of a meeting Tuesday with Geithner, Wen made no mention of the comments, which raised worries over rising US budget deficits and possibly higher interest rates that might choke off a recovery in the United States.

The reception Geithner received seemed to show that the governments of the world's largest and third-largest economies were determined to cooperate to combat the downturn.

Hu thanked Geithner for developing good relations with his Chinese counterparts and taking action to end the financial crisis.

"What I sense is a fair amount of confidence in the dynamism of the US economy, that we will solve this crisis and go back to living within our means," Geithner said in a meeting with reporters.

He delivered the same message to Chinese media.

The treasury secretary said he assured Chinese officials that the administration was determined to bring down deficits once the crisis has passed.

"We are very committed to make sure that when recovery is established, that we go back to living within our means, that we bring our fiscal deficits down to a sustainable level, that we unwind and reverse these exceptional measures that we've taken in the financial sector," Geithner said in an interview with Chinese state television.

Studied Chinese

In an interview with the China Daily newspaper, Geithner praised the actions taken by the Federal Reserve. Geithner said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had done an "enormously impressive job in the worst financial crisis in decades."

As a young student Geithner studied Japanese and Chinese, spending time abroad in Beijing to hone his language skills.

On this trip, the treasury secretary spoke a brief sentence in Chinese on two occasions - once on Monday at the end of a speech to students at Peking University and the second time Tuesday in an interview on Chinese state television.

The Chinese phrase translates to "We will make a joint effort in a concerted way."

Chinese officials did not comment publicly on Geithner's reassurances.

China owns US$768 billion of Treasury securities, about 10 percent of America's publicly held debt, making China America's largest creditor.

- AP