NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called Tuesday for a broad rewrite of the relationship between businesses and Washington, promising an annual growth rate of 4 percent and 11.5 million more jobs under a Romney administration.

Mr. Romney’s speech was the curtain-raiser for an active week on economic issues and in the presidential campaign, which is gearing up after Labor Day. Republican presidential candidates will debate in California on Wednesday, and President Obama follows the next night with a major address to a joint session of Congress.

Mr. Romney, who was a one-term governor of Massachusetts, called for cutting government regulations and took particular aim at China, arguing that the top U.S. competitor for the position as the world’s leading economy is manipulating its currency and must face consequences if it does not abide by international trade rules.

“I’ll clamp down on the cheaters, and China’s the worst example of that,” he said as he stood beneath a banner that read, “Day one, job one.” “We’re not going to have a trade war, but we’re not going to have a trade surrender, either.”

The jobs issue has dominated politics over the past three years as the economy hit a deep recession and sputtered in recovering. Last week brought news that the economy did not add any net jobs in August...