NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - The head of the main watchdog group for U.S. auditors is in Beijing participating in annual talks between the United States and China, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman Jim Doty, whose group oversees U.S. auditors, is participating in U.S. Treasury meetings, PCAOB spokeswoman Colleen Brennan said.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are in Beijing this week for annual talks aimed at strengthening ties between the world's two largest economies. The meetings are expected to cover a range of economic and diplomatic issues.

The PCAOB and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have been working for months with the Chinese to try to hash out a deal that would allow audit inspectors in China.

The two U.S. agencies have been stepping up efforts to come to an agreement after a rash of accounting scandals at China-based companies that list shares in the United States.

PCAOB and SEC officials met with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing last July and again in Washington in January to try to negotiate an agreement.

The PCAOB was created by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act to combat accounting fraud after book-cooking scandals at Enron and WorldCom. The act requires the PCAOB to register and inspect auditors of U.S.-listed companies, including overseas auditors.

(Reporting By Dena Aubin)

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