BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Sunday it had consistently respected the rules of the World Trade Organization and would work with the WTO on a suit lodged against it by the United States aimed at halting export subsidy programs.

The United States began legal action at the WTO on Friday to halt Chinese government subsidy programs to boost the sale of Chinese-branded goods around the world.

The subsidies benefit a wide range of Chinese industrial sectors, including household electronic appliances, textiles and apparel, a range of light manufacturing industries, agricultural and food products, metal and chemical products, medicines and health products, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said.

The subsidies include cash grant rewards for exporting, preferential loans for exporters and payments to lower the cost of export credit insurance, the USTR said.

However, China’s Commerce Ministry, in a short statement on its Website (www.mofcom.gov.cn), said China respected the rules.

“China has all along respected the rules of the WTO, and opposes trade protectionism,” it paraphrased an unnamed official as saying. “China will deal with (the suit) in accordance with WTO rules.”

The new case, which began with a formal request for dispute settlement consultations with China, comes just one month before the Bush administration leaves office on January 20.

It will be up to the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to decide whether to take the next step and request a dispute settlement panel, if the two sides can not negotiate a solution in the next 60 days.

The USTR action also came on the same day the White House announced a $17.4 billion government loan program to bail out ailing U.S. automakers, a step that itself raises questions on whether it violates WTO rules on industrial subsidies.

The U.S. trade deficit with China set a record $256.2 billion in 2007, and could surpass that this year even with the recent slump in world trade.