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"The decision runs contrary to the consensus between the leaders of the two nations about strengthening bilateral trade ties and properly solving trade disputes," said Wang Xinpei, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce.

"It will seriously undermine the cooperative relations the two nations have established and will adversely affect bilateral trade.

"The Chinese government has always been firm in protecting intellectual property rights and has attained well-known achievements."

The US government filed two trade cases with the WTO against China on Monday, one over copyright protection and the other over restrictions on the sale of American books, music, videos and movies in China.

The cases represent the latest effort by the Bush administration to increase pressure on China in the trade arena.

"We acknowledge that China's leadership has made the protection of intellectual property rights a priority and has taken active steps to improve IPR protection and enforcement," US Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab said in a statement.

"China has taken numerous steps to improve its protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, (but) we have not been able to agree on several important changes to China's legal regime that we believe are required by China's WTO commitments."

Schwab noted, however, that the Bush administration is willing to resolve these issues through dialogue with China.

"We also look forward to continuing fruitful bilateral discussions with China on other important IPR matters we have been working on together, since achieving comprehensive IPR protection requires concerted efforts on many fronts," she said.

Under WTO dispute settlement procedures, the US and China would normally consult for 60 days. If it fails, a WTO dispute panel would be convened to handle the matter.

In late March, the US government announced a decision to impose penalty tariffs against the imports of Chinese coated free sheet paper, a decision altering 23-year-old policy.

The Chinese government responded strongly, saying the decision "goes against the consensus reached between leaders of the two countries to resolve contradictions through dialogue."

"China strongly requires the US side to reconsider the decision and make prompt changes," the statement said.

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