China, US to improve relations on positive momentum

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-02 16:08

NEW YORK -- A renowned China expert with the Brookings Institution said Wednesday that China and the United States want to keep on the positive development momentum of their relations.

"The announcement of the new US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (mechanism) demonstrates that both sides want to build on the positive momentum created during the past few years in US-China relations," said Dennis Wilder, a visiting fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center and Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution.

Shortly after Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama met in London ahead of the G20 summit, Wilder told Xinhua about his thoughts of the meeting.

"Secretary Clinton's direct involvement in the dialogue is an upgrading of the US participation as, in the past, the deputy secretary of state represented the United States," he said.

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"Also, President Obama will set a new precedent if he visits China later this year as the American president who visited China earliest in his administration."

Wilder served as a special assistant to the US president and senior director for East Asian affairs on the National Security Council from December 2005 until January 2009.

He said that "close US-China dialogue at senior levels is critical to dealing with the large challenges both countries face as they try to do their parts to restore health to the world economy."

He also said President Hu's reported emphasis in the meeting on stimulating domestic demand in China would be welcomed by the American people "as we hope to be able to sell more into the Chinese market in the future."

US-China relations will also face many challenges, but the two governments are off to a solid beginning, Wilder added.

The Brookings Institution is a liberal-leaning, non-profit public policy organization based in Washington D.C.

Being one of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts researches and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.

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