China will always be open to dialogue in dealing with the trade frictions it sees as an inevitable consequence of growing trade flows, a spokesman with the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

Wang Xinpei also told a routine news conference that it was harmful to politicize trade ties between China and the United States.

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His comments came after Chinese and U.S. officials failed to ease trade rifts during two days of "strategic economic dialogue" which ended last week.

"Politicizing trade issues is not favorable for the development of Sino-U.S. trade ties," Wang said.

During the high-level discussions, Washington pressed China for more action to cut its trade surplus but Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said the currency was not the main issue for the trade gap.

Critics in U.S. Congress, who argue Beijing is keeping the value of the yuan artificially low to give its exports an unfair advantage, have already renewed their threat for punitive action, raising the specter of further tensions to come.

Washington has asked China to resume imports of U.S. beef following a ban imposed when mad cow disease surfaced in the United States in 2003.

Asked whether China would resume U.S. beef imports, Wang said: "China will proactively consider the detailed trade requirements by the U.S. side."

Wang also reiterated Beijing's goal of further reducing tax rebates on some exports, including some basic materials and those associated with highly polluting industries, as a way of easing the country's export boom and trimming the trade surplus.