WASHINGTON - Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on entrepreneurs from China and the United States to help further advance bilateral trade and economic ties.

China-US economic and trade ties should serve as a "ballast" and "propeller" of overall bilateral relations, Xi said at a roundtable of Chinese and US business leaders.

Xi said he hoped that entrepreneurs and chambers of commerce of both countries could continue to be concerned about, support and participate in the China-US economic and trade cooperation.

Both sides should avoid politicizing economic and trade issues and all forms of interference, and should strive to safeguard the general situations of China-US economic and trade cooperation and bilateral relations, Xi said.

The economic agendas of the two countries are highly complementary and their cooperation enjoys a very promising future, Xi said. He called on entrepreneurs from both sides to seize opportunities to turn great cooperation potential into concrete and tangible results featured by mutual benefits and win-win scenario.

The Chinese Vice-President also called on the entrepreneurs to fulfill their social responsibilities and make further efforts in repaying society so as to ensure that the peoples of the two countries can benefit more from China-US economic and trade cooperation.

The meeting was also attended by US Vice-President Joe Biden, Wan Jifei, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, and Muhtar Kent, chairman of the US-China Business Council.