Geithner says China backs U.S. pump-priming

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials are giving U.S. efforts to prime its ailing economy a vote of confidence and understand why higher budget deficits are necessary, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

"I've actually found a lot of confidence here in China, justifiable confidence, in the strength and resilience and dynamism of the American economy and I think a very sophisticated understanding...of the steps we're taking and why they're so important, not just to the United States but to China and the rest of the world," he told China state television.

Geithner, on the second day of a two-day visit, said he had reassured Chinese leaders that huge U.S. budget deficits were temporary and would be wound down as soon as a year-and-a-half-old recession eased.

(Reporting by Glenn Somerville; Editing by Alan Wheatley)