SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called on China Thursday to move forward with economic reforms ahead of his meeting with leaders in Beijing.

Geithner spoke about the state of China-U.S. relations and a host of other economic issues during a San Francisco event hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California.

He and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are traveling to Beijing next week for the fourth round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

The treasury secretary said the Obama administration welcomes recent changes to China’s exchange rate system but believes the Chinese renminbi needs to appreciate further against the dollar.

“It will provide China the independence and flexibility to respond to future changes in growth and inflation,” Geithner said. “And it will help the world economy, reducing a source of unfair competition with China’s trading partners.”

He urged China to continue reforming its financial system, which is dominated by state-owned banks that channel resources to state enterprises at the expense of private companies.

Geithner said it was unclear whether China’s economic reforms would be affected by a political crisis triggered by the fall of former Chongqing Mayor Bo Xilai, a rising politician toppled over a scandal involving his wife’s alleged participation in the murder of a British businessman.

The treasury secretary said he was encouraged by China’s recent decisions to widen the trading range of its currency and move forward with a pilot financial reform program in the city of Wenzhou.

Geithner said many Americans overestimate China’s strengths, and the country faces formidable challenges, including an aging population, rising labor costs and an inefficient banking system.

“The challenges they face looking forward are really, really tough,” Geithner said. “What looks strong in China is not as strong as it seems.”

During the question-and-answer session, Geithner defended the administration’s decision to bail out this nation’s largest banks and said the U.S. banking system is stronger than it was before the financial crisis.

He said the U.S. faces a lot of challenges and the housing market still has a long way to go before returning to normal. But he expressed confidence in the future.

“Americans should feel more confident than they did at any time in the last three, four or five years,” he said. “Americans are understandably worried about our country, but our challenges are much more manageable challenges than what countries face around the world today.”

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Campus police should not have pepper-sprayed student demonstrators at the University of California, Davis in an incident that generated national outrage when video was posted online, investigators said Wednesday in a report that assigned blame to all levels of the school administration.

The decision by officers to douse a line of seated Occupy protesters with the eye-stinging chemical was “objectively unreasonable” and not authorized by campus policy, according to the report by a UC Davis task force created to investigate the incident.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge has ruled the University of California can release a report on the pepper-spraying of student demonstrators by UC Davis police but must first remove most officers’ names.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo ruled Wednesday the report does not contain confidential personnel records and can be released.

But Grillo says he wants the university to redact the names of officers other than Police Chief Annette Spicuzza and Lt. John Pike, who became known after online videos of the incident went viral.

Grillo says the report cannot be released for at least 21 days to give officers a chance to appeal.

The report was produced by a task force created to investigate the Nov. 18 crackdown on Occupy protesters.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday temporarily barred the University of California from releasing a report about the pepper-spraying of student protesters by police officers at UC Davis.

During a hearing in Alameda County Superior Court, Judge Evelio Grillo issued a temporary restraining order requested by the union representing officers involved in the Nov. 18 incident.

The judge ordered the university to allow the union’s attorney to see the report and scheduled another court hearing on March 16, when attorneys for each side will argue the merits of the case.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge has temporarily barred the University of California from releasing a report about the pepper-spraying of student protesters by police officers at UC Davis.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order requested by the union representing officers involved in the Nov. 18 incident.

A task force investigating the encounter was scheduled to release its findings and recommendations Tuesday. But it delayed its publication online after learning the officers’ union planned to seek a restraining order.

Union attorney John Bakhit says the officers want to make sure the report doesn’t include names and confidential personnel information that should not be made public.

The judge ordered UC to allow the union attorney to see the report. Grillo set another court hearing on March 16.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A union representing University of California police officers is seeking a court order to block the release of a report on the pepper-spraying of student demonstrators by police officers during an Occupy protest at UC Davis last fall.

The task force investigating the Nov. 18 incident was scheduled to release its findings and recommendations Tuesday. But it decided to delay the move Monday after learning the officers’ union plans to seek a court order to halt the report’s public disclosure.

Union attorney John Bakhit says officers involved don’t want their names or any confidential information they told investigators to be published in the report.

Bakhit plans to request a temporary restraining order in Alameda County Superior Court on Tuesday.

The task force was created to investigate the encounter, when police officers doused pepper spray on sitting protesters who had set up an Occupy encampment.