WASHINGTON (AP) — The administration of US President George W. Bush announced last Friday that it was tightening controls on exports to China of a range of high-tech products that could be used by China's military.The new regulation, which is scheduled to take effect next week, also will create a new category for authorised Chinese customers that will cut down on the paperwork needed to buy high-tech products from the United States.

"This new rule strikes the right balance in our complex relationship with China," Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in a statement. "The steps we are taking today are good for national security and for American exporters and jobs."

Gutierrez said the new regulation would make it easier for US companies to sell to pre-screened customers while denying China access to US technology that would contribute to the country's military modernisation program.

Items that will be subject to the new military end-use controls include aircraft and aircraft engines, avionics and inertial navigation systems, lasers, depleted uranium, underwater cameras and propulsion systems, certain composite materials and some telecommunications equipment that can be used for space communications and air defence systems.

A Commerce statement said the list was developed with input from experts at the departments of Commerce, Defence and State and was designed to target militarily useful items that are not widely available on world markets. US export controls are administered by Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security.

The new validated end-user program will facilitate sales of US-made products to trusted customers in such areas as electronics, semiconductor equipment and chemicals.

The Bush administration is pressuring China to lower barriers to American exports as a way of reducing the US trade deficit with China, which hit an all-time high of $232.6 billion last year. But Chinese officials have complained they are unable to obtain many US-made high-technology products because of stringent export controls that have been imposed because of concerns about China's military intentions.

A Pentagon official testified before Congress this week that China is concealing its spending on weapons programs, including technology that could be used to disrupt US space efforts.

Richard P. Lawless, deputy under-secretary of defence for Asia, said the Pentagon's best estimate was that China could be spending $85 billion to $125 billion this year, compared with China's official estimate of defence spending of around $45 billion.

The Pentagon said last month in an annual report to Congress that China was modernising its military in ways that give it options for launching surprise attacks, potentially far from its borders.

The report said the Chinese are acquiring better missiles, submarines and aircraft and should more fully explain the purposes of a military build-up that has led some to view China as a threat.