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Chinese, US vice presidents hold talks on ties

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Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping Tuesday held talks at the White House with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on deepening the relations between the two countries.

China's Vice-President Xi Jinping (L) meets with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, February 14, 2012. [Xinhua]

During the talks, Xi said his current visit is aimed at increasing strategic mutual trust, exploring more substantial cooperation and deepening the friendship between the two countries and peoples.

Xi said the trip is also for implementing the important consensuses reached by the two countries' presidents to advance the China-U.S. cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.

China and the United States, two of the biggest countries in the world, have extensive and important mutual interests, Xi noted. Maintaining a healthy, stable and sustained development of bilateral ties is not only in the interests of both countries and peoples, but also benefits the peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and the world at large.

Xi said that in the process of developing the China-U.S. cooperative partnership, various problems and challenges would inevitably emerge from time to time.

But the two sides, he said, should have full confidence and a persistent will to develop a new type of ties featuring harmonious co-existence, orderly competition and win-win cooperation by taking care of mutual interests and eliminating the negative effects of differences and contradictions.

Xi raised a five-point proposal for furthering bilateral ties.

Firstly, the two sides should treat each other honestly and make full use of various mechanisms of dialogue and consultation to inject new vigor into the Sino-U.S. cooperative partnership.

He urged leaders of both countries to maintain close contacts by exchanging visits, having meetings and telephone conversations, among other means, to exchange views, coordinate positions, enlarge consensus and guide the handling of major and urgent issues concerning bilateral ties in a timely manner.

Secondly, Xi suggested that both sides should keep abreast of the times and expand substantial cooperation.

He said the two sides should further cooperation and communication in economy and trade, anti-terrorism, non-proliferation, environment, science and education, and between localities and youths, to cement the basis of cooperation and broaden bilateral interests.

On economic and trade issues, Xi said China and the United States should resort to dialogues instead of protectionism to address mutual concerns.

Xi said China-U.S. economic and trade ties serve as a "ballast" and "propeller" of overall bilateral relations.

He expressed the hope that the two countries would improve coordination of macroeconomic policies, deepen cooperation in handling the international financial crisis and the European debt crisis, and advance cooperation programs on trade and investment.

The two sides, he added, should also follow the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation in their trade and economic relations.

Thirdly, both sides should respect each other's core interests and major concerns and enhance strategic mutual trust.

"So long as both sides look on each other's strategic intention and development pattern in a correct and objective way, and respect each other's core interests, major concerns and bottom lines, bilateral cooperative partnership will be ultimately guaranteed," Xi said.

He voiced the hope that "the U.S. side can discreetly and properly handle" the questions of Taiwan and Tibet, which concern China's core interests, "to avoid repeated disruptions and impairment of bilateral ties".

Fourthly, the two countries should look toward the future and enhance people-to-people exchanges.

A sound development of China-U.S. ties can not be achieved without mutual understanding and support of the people of both countries, Xi said.

The Chinese side will steadily support projects and programs for exchanges between the young people of the two countries, he said.

Fifth, both sides should strengthen cooperation and coordination to jointly meet challenges.

"The two sides should enhance cooperation within the multilateral framework, maintain close contacts and coordination on international and regional hotspot issues in a bid to safeguard regional peace and stability," said the Chinese vice president.

Both countries should further cooperation in areas including anti-privacy, cross-border crimes and cyber crimes, to actively address various non-traditional security threats, he said.

"China would like to boost dialogue with the U.S. side on Asia-Pacific affairs so as to promote effective interaction between the two countries," Xi said.

Biden, for his part, said the current U.S. administration has determined to "renew and intensify" the U.S. role in the Asia-Pacific region, and "the ties with China in particular."

"The bilateral relation is one of the most important in the world, not only important to both countries, but also to the world at large," Biden said, adding that Xi's visit "helps sustain a high level of dialogue between our two countries."

Biden reaffirmed the United States' adherence to the one-China policy and would like to see the improvement and development of the ties across the Taiwan Straits.

Xi arrived in Washington on Monday afternoon for a five-day official visit to the United States. He met with U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

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