Foreign and Military Affairs

Wen says China, US not rivals but partners

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-23 16:26

NEW YORK - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here Wednesday that China and the United States were not competitors or rivals but partners in cooperation.

Dialogue had always been the mainstay of ties between China and the US, although progress had not always been smooth, Wen said at a welcome banquet hosted by US friendly organizations on Wendesday night.

There were more common interests than differences between the two sides and calls for friendship always overpowered the unharmonious noises, Wen said.

Relations between China and the US were far more bilateral and they had global significance, he said.

Under the current circumstances, Wen said, the common interests of China and the US were increasingly mixed together, mutual reliance was increasing, friendly exchanges between the peoples of the two countries were increasingly deeper, he said.

Wen said that, in the new era, the two countries had the responsibility to ensure their bilateral relations always moved ahead on the positive path of full cooperation.

Enhancing strategic mutual trust was one of the efforts the two countries should continue to make in this regard, he said.

Trust was the basis of friendship and cooperation and more mutual trust meant more room for cooperation, he said.

Wen said the two countries also should continue to respect each other's interests, strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit and expand people-to-people exchanges.

It was impossible for China and the US to reach agreement on everything, and the two countries should seek common grounds while reserving differences, he said.

The two countries, based on the principles of win-win and mutual benefit, should intensify cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade, science and technology, education, agriculture, food security, and the fight against terror, Wen said.

Wen arrived in New York Tuesday afternoon to attend a series of UN meetings.

Earlier on Wednesday, he attended a UN panel to discuss ways to enhance anti-AIDS efforts as part of a global campaign to meet the Millenium Development Goals.