Vice FM issues proposal to promote Sino-US ties

BEIJING - China's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun on Friday put forward a four-point proposal to promote Sino-US ties.

Zhang made the proposal in response to a media report on "strategic distrust" between China and the United States as he addressed the 8th Lanting Forum held by China's Foreign Ministry.

He noted that China and the U.S., one of the world's largest developing countries and the largest developed one, respectively, are the world's top two economies, which makes their relationship one of the most important but complex.

In this era of globalization in which countries are interdependent and have closely linked interests, there has been a major shift in international relations, he said.

He added that in the face of frequent global challenges, all countries should want to stick together to meet challenges and pursue common development, calling this an "unstoppable historic trend."

He said that two-way trade has surged from nearly zero when the two countries resumed contact over three decades ago to 446.6 billion U.S. dollars last year, and it is expected to exceed 500 billion U.S. dollars this year.

Dispelling mutual distrust and building a new type of relationship between major countries are demanding tasks that call for unflinching efforts from both sides.

He put forward a four-point proposal to promote Sino-U.S. ties, as follows:

First, the two countries need to have candid and in-depth communication so as to avoid misunderstandings regarding each other's strategies.

Second, the two countries need to vigorously expand new bright spots in their pragmatic cooperation. China and the U.S. should seize the opportunity to cooperate in the fields of new energy, clean energy and infrastructure development, support the increase of two-way investment, step up local, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, tap cooperation potential, and actively expand common interests.

Third, the two sides need to work to ensure that dialogue and cooperation outweigh frictions and differences in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fourth, the two sides need to truly respect each other's core interests.

He emphasized that no matter how much more progress China achieves in its development, it will only strengthen, not weaken, its policy of promoting friendship and partnership with its neighbors, adding that China will forever remain a good neighbor, good friend and good partner of its neighbors.

"China rejects the notion that a country is bound to seek hegemony when it gains strength, because seeking hegemony or expansion is not part of Chinese culture, much less China's policy," he said.

History has proven that a country seeking hegemony or engaging in expansion or bullying never ends up well, no matter how strong it may be, and this is history's unbroken law, he said.