Premier Li: No currency or trade war to stimulate exports

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C) meets with US Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd L) and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew (3rd L), who are here to attend the eighth round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogues and the seventh round of China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange, in Beijing, June 7, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China is willing to maintain high-level interaction with the United States to promote the sustainable, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday.

China and the United States should jointly strive to deepen mutual trust and expand cooperation, Li said when meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who attended the eighth round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogues and the seventh round of China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange in Beijing.

Noting that the two sides' common interests "far outweigh" their differences, Li said the two countries should manage differences in a constructive manner.

Last year, two-way trade and investment volumes both hit historic high, and China has for the first time become the biggest trade partner of the United States.

China is willing to deepen economic and trade cooperation with the United States, according to Li.

Describing frictions in bilateral cooperation as normal, the premier said the two sides should focus on the big picture and mainstream.

He expressed the hope that the United States will honor its commitment stipulated in the protocol on China's accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Li also reiterated that China's currency renminbi has no grounds to depreciate continuously, and China does not intend to stimulate exports via a "currency war" or "trade war."

China, he said, is capable of maintaining the renminbi exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level.

When asked about industrial overcapacity, the premier said many countries face similar problems, and the fundamental reason lies in the feeble world economy recovery, sluggish international trade growth and declining market demand.

China stands firm to address industrial overcapacity according to the rules of the market economy, Li said.

Kerry and Lew hailed the outcomes of the high-level dialogues, saying the mechanism contributes to deeper US-China cooperation.

As the world's two biggest economic entities, more communication and cooperation between the United Stated and China will exert a major influence on the global economy, they said.

The two US officials also said their country is willing to speed up negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty and closely cooperate with China under the G20 framework.