Geithner to visit China, discuss Iran and fair competition

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will visit China and Japan next week to discuss sanctions on Iran and the state of the global economy with top government officials, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Geithner will meet with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on January 10 and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on January 11. He will then travel to Japan on January 12 to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Finance Minister Jun Azumi.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday signed into law tough new sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and financial sector. The latest sanctions would cut off financial institutions that work with Iran's central bank from the U.S. financial system, a move aimed at reducing Iran's oil revenue and forcing the country to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons program.

China is the largest customer of Iran's oil. Both China and Russia disagree with sanctions against Iran, and some analysts argue that China will likely stick to that stance.

"China opposes placing one's domestic law above international law and imposing unilateral sanctions against other countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news briefing on Wednesday in Beijing.

"China has consistently believed that sanctions are not the correct way to ease tensions or resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear program," Hong added.

The Treasury Department said Geithner would "discuss our continued coordination with international partners in the region to increase pressure on the government of Iran, including financial measures targeting the central bank of Iran."

Geithner will also discuss strategies to revitalize global economic growth and efforts to support fair competition in the arena of global trade, the Treasury said.

The U.S. continues to insist that the Chinese yuan has been undervalued and that this has served as an edge for China in foreign trade. The Obama administration, in a semi-annual report on currency practices last week, declined to name China a currency manipulator, but said a faster appreciation of the yuan was necessary.