(Adds comments by Gutierrez, paragraphs 9, 10, 19)

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official struck a conciliatory tone on product safety on Monday ahead of high-level talks with China likely to be dominated by U.S. fears of substandard Chinese-made food and drugs.

The made-in-China label has come under global scrutiny following a series of scares involving tainted pet food, toothpaste and fish. In one of the biggest cases, U.S. firm Mattel had to recall millions of toys.

Insisting that Washington and Beijing were working well on safety issues, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt said this was a question of improving the monitoring of imports not only from China but from the rest of the world.

"We think we are on a glide pattern which will produce a successful outcome in our relationship with the Chinese government," Leavitt told reporters in Beijing where he will sign agreements to strengthen product safety.

"Our message to China, as well as to every other import/export partner we have, is if you desire to produce goods for the American consumer, you need to meet American standards of quality and safety," he said.

"We want you to know what they are, and we'll work with you to meet them."

Mattel has recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made products in the past few months, adding to a growing tally of similar cases.

Those scandals have provoked protectionist trade calls from some U.S. politicians, already angered by what they see as China's artificially undervalued currency, the yuan.

"We don't believe protectionism is good for the U.S. or good for China," U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told Reuters. "Clearly our preferred strategy is dialogue.

"When that isn't working then we resort to other tools that we have," said Gutierrez. He pointed to U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws, as well as the World Trade Organisation actions as possible options when dialogue breaks down.

But Leavitt said U.S. consumers could also take more responsibility for quality issues.

"Consumers can in fact do things that would ensure quality for themselves. We encourage them to deal with retailers they trust, to ask those retailers what they're doing and what the process is they're following," Leavitt said.

CARRYING STONES, MOVING MOUNTAINS

Food and product safety is likely to dominate cabinet-level Sino-U.S. talks that start on Wednesday just outside Beijing, even if currency issues are on participants' minds, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said last week.

Adding to the conciliatory tone, Wal-Mart said it had won permission to open its 100th China store and U.S. bearings company Timken unveiled a $38 million joint venture in the southern province of Hunan.

"These agreements create jobs and create opportunities for all of our citizens," Gutierrez told reporters.

China has repeatedly warned other countries not to make political capital out of trade rows. They should be dealt with through dialogue on an equal footing, a senior Commerce Ministry official said in remarks published on Monday.

Chen Deming told the official China Daily he was worried the trend towards politicising trade and economic issues could mount as the November 2008 U.S. presidential election approaches.

"We should avoid unreasonably and unilaterally blaming the other side," Chen added.

Leavitt said he was not in China to blame anyone. Gutierrez said he hoped there would progress to report after the talks.

"This is about building bridges. We have different systems but common goals," Leavitt said.

Ensuring a proper, fully functioning system was in place to ensure the safety of imports would take time.

"I think there's a Chinese proverb -- the man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. This is not going to happen overnight." (Additional reporting by Kirby Chien; editing by Nick Macfie and Roger Crabb)

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