Li: Decoupling would harm whole world

Premier calls for China-US cooperation based on equality, mutual respect

Premier Li Keqiang urged Washington on Thursday to work with Beijing to manage their differences and expand their shared interests, and jointly advance China-US relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability.

Li made the remarks at the news conference after the closing of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature.

"At the moment, China-US relations have encountered some new problems and challenges," Li said, adding that decoupling the world's two largest economies will do neither side any good, and will also harm the world.

The premier called for abandoning the Cold War mindset, and said that differences, disagreements and even frictions are unavoidable given the two countries' different social systems, cultural heritage and historical backgrounds.

"What's important is how we manage these disagreements and differences," Li said, adding that the bilateral relationship has been moving forward in recent decades amid twists and turns.

The two countries should develop their relationship on the basis of equality, respect each other's core interests and major concerns and embrace cooperation that will be conducive to both countries and the world, he said.

Li stressed that China and the United States stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation, and the development of their ties matters to the interests of the two peoples and also concerns the world.

Saying that bilateral ties are critically important, Li noted that China and the US are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and there are also many areas where they can and should work together on tackling traditional and non-traditional challenges.

In terms of bilateral economic relations, Li said the two countries' economies have become closely interconnected and both nations have benefited tremendously from bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

"Trade and economic cooperation between the two countries should abide by the business rules. Let the market make the choice and allow entrepreneurs to make the decision," he said.

Li also called for international cooperation to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, and he said China will continue to expand its opening-up policy.

He said the international community needs to work together to ensure the stability of international industrial and supply chains.

"This requires that we continue to keep ourselves open to promote trade liberalization and investment facilitation," he said, "and it is with such joint efforts that we will be able to reduce the losses from COVID-19 to the minimum".

Li reiterated China's commitment to opening-up, and said the country will introduce more related measures.

"We hope that people will stay optimistic about the market and make more investment in this market," he said, adding that China is also prepared to boost imports from other parts of the world.

As for how to respond to the public health crisis and the global economic recession, Li said all members of the global community should work together in a spirit of partnership to prevail over the current difficulties.

China, as a major developing country, will surely live up to its share of international responsibilities, he added.