Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson heads to China on Tuesday for his final round of economic talks, with one of his main goals more elusive than ever: Persuading Beijing to allow Wall Street greater access to the Chinese market.

With U.S. markets battered by risky mortgage-backed securities, and the U.S. economy in recession, Mr. Paulson faces stiffened Chinese resistance to his argument that Western investment banks, insurance companies and other financial firms will bring economic growth.

Instead, the two-day talks in Beijing this week will likely focus on less-heated areas, including cooperation on energy and the environment, and complementary responses to the global financial turmoil. Just seven weeks before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, one of Mr. Paulson's top concerns appears to be ensuring that the semiannual U.S.- China Strategic Economic Dialogue itself continues to be an American priority.

"They were looking at their teacher, and the problems we've had in our capital markets have certainly not been a good example to them as to why they should proceed with more reform," Mr. Paulson said in an interview Monday. He said he plans, nonetheless, to press China "to avoid the mistakes we've made but to continue with reform."

When Mr. Paulson took the helm at Treasury in 2006, President George W. Bush touted his experience in China, which the former Goldman Sachs Group chief executive had visited more than 70 times. At Mr. Paulson's behest, Mr. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao that year launched a twice-yearly gathering of cabinet-level officials to explore long-term issues while delivering some immediate results.