Li Changjiang, head of the control, quarantine and inspection authority, urged Washington to settle the dispute, which follows rows over Chinese tyres, pet food, toothpaste and cosmetics, as soon as possible.

"China cannot accept the automatic and arbitrary blockade of four types of farmed fish by the United States and the ban on imports of these products," Li told a senior American official, according to the administration's website.

Li, in a telephone conversation with US health secretary Mike Leavitt, urged Washington to "carefully settle the problem as soon as possible," complaining that a blanket ban was not warranted.

According to the website, Leavitt said the United States would send representatives as soon as possible to discuss ways of resolving the dispute.

The broad import control was imposed after regulators repeatedly found seafood shipments contaminated with antimicrobial agents that are not approved for use in the United States, the US Food and Drug Administration said.