US to reconsider high-tech trade barriers

The White House is reconsidering the trade barriers it has put up before exports of advanced technology to China, a US official said on Wednesday.

"As you know, we are reviewing our high-technology export regulations," said John Holdren, US assistant to the president for science and technology.

"Certainly, I hope some of those changes will address some of the concerns that our colleagues in China have had, but this is a complicated domain. Where the technologies are judged to be relevant to national defense, those prescriptions will continue. But we hope that in other domains, there will be changes that will benefit China."