BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell left China on Sunday morning after a one-day visit aimed at rebuilding ties with China.Powell told a news conference late on Saturday that China had agreed to resume a ``no holds barred'' human rights dialogue this year and also participate in expert discussions on Chinese missile technology transfers.
Sino-U.S. ties were strained in April after the mid-air collision of a U.S. spy plane with a Chinese fighter jet.
That incident sparked a bitter 11-day diplomatic standoff as Washington pushed for release of the U.S. crew after the aircraft made an emergency landing on China's southern provincial island of Hainan.
Powell, who arrived on Saturday, met top Chinese leaders, including President Jiang Zemin. The trip aimed to lay the groundwork for a visit by President Bush to China in October.
Powell stopped off in China as part of an Asian tour. He is now on route to Canberra.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (R) welcomes Secretary of State Colin Powell to Zhongnanhai, the official Chinese leadership compound in Beijing July 28, 2001. Powell announced after meeting China's leadership that the two countries would resume a human rights dialogue broken off when U.S. jets on a NATO mission bombed Beijing's embassy in Belgrade in May 1999. (Goh Chai Hin/Pool via Reuters)