China, US share good start on relations

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged on Wednesday that China and the United States have shared a good start on bilateral ties.

Xi also called on the two sides to handle their relations at a strategic level.

"I'm pleased to see the China-US relations have seen a good start since the new leaderships of the two nations came to power," Xi said in his meeting with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Xi suggested the two sides further intensify high-level exchange and dialogue, sort out common interests and boost cooperation in various fields such as mutual respect, equality and handling their differences well.

"The establishment of a new type of inter-power relationship between China and the United States needs an accumulation of dribs and drabs," Xi told Kissinger, proposing the two to step up their pragmatic cooperation and maintain communication and coordination on regional and international issues in an aim to promote bilateral relations to a higher level.

Kissinger highlighted the significance of relations between the United States and China, noting that the two nations could deepen their communication and mutual understanding on current issues which not only would help the two to foster ties, but also be conducive to safeguarding world peace and stability.

In an earlier meeting with visiting former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Xi also highlighted the prospect for the two nations to push forward bilateral relations. "China is making an unremitting effort to achieve its 'two 100-year' goals and the United States is also on its way of reform and economic recovery," Xi said.

The Chinese President also spoke highly of the role played by the Paulson Institute, an independent center at the University of Chicago that aims to promote sustainable economic growth and a cleaner environment, to help cement the bilateral cooperation in fields of energy, environment, climate change and capacity building.

Paulson, who served under US President George W. Bush as the Secretary of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009, said the new leaderships of the two nations both attached great importance to promoting bilateral ties. He said the two countries share common opportunities as well as challenges in economic recovery, energy, environment and climate change, which required further cooperation.