Premier calls for efforts to enhance China-US ties

Premier Li Qiang has underlined the need for Beijing and Washington to find the right way to get along with each other and strive to achieve common prosperity through mutual success.

Li made the remarks in New York on Thursday when meeting with friendly organizations in the United States, including representatives from the US-China Business Council, the National Committee on US-China Relations, the US Chamber of Commerce and the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as scholars and business leaders, on the sidelines of the general debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Li said that China-US relations are the most important bilateral relations in the world, and the two countries can and should be partners and friends. As the world's two major countries, they should respect each other, coexist in peace, and pursue win-win cooperation, he added.

He highlighted economic and trade relations as an important component of bilateral ties, saying that closer economic and trade cooperation between China and the US will benefit both countries and the world at large.

The premier emphasized that China is confident in its ability to maintain stable and healthy economic development to create more opportunities for businesses from all countries, including US enterprises.

He pledged that no matter how the external environment changes, China will do its utmost to provide greater certainty for the development of foreign businesses.

China will always work with the US side to jointly promote the stabilization and improvement of bilateral economic and trade ties, on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit, while upholding a constructive and responsible attitude, he said.

In the meantime, Li said, China will always focus on development and promote the steady growth of its own economy.

China will actively respond to the concerns of foreign businesses and help them to resolve practical difficulties, in order to ensure that foreign businesses feel at ease when operating and developing in the country, he said.

The meeting came following the telephone conversation between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on Sept 19, the third time both leaders talked over the phone this year, as both countries strive to stabilize their relationship.

Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council, said that Thursday's meeting with the Chinese premier was an important opportunity to highlight the primary concerns of the US business community in China and to discuss the need for progress on longstanding issues affecting trade and investment.

The National Committee on US-China Relations believes that forthright dialogue between American business, policy, and civic leaders and senior Chinese government leaders fosters mutual understanding and creates opportunities to promote US interests, according to a press release the committee issued after the meeting.

Also on Thursday, Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu met with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in New York, with both sides engaging in frank, in-depth and constructive exchanges of views on China-US relations and international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Ma emphasized that the Taiwan question is China's domestic affairs and concerns China's core interests. He urged the US to adhere to the one-China policy, fulfill its political commitments, and take concrete actions to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.