China, U.S. pledge concerted efforts to promote ties

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (L) meets with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during his stopover in Washington, the United States, Sept. 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with U.S. State of Secretary Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, with the two sides pledging to promote bilateral ties.

Maintaining a positive momentum of the development of China-U.S. relations is in the interests of both countries and is the common aspiration of the international community, Yang said.

The two countries have recently achieved important progress in bilateral ties under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, Yang added.

Beijing and Washington should implement important consensuses reached by the two leaders, respect each other, achieve reciprocity and mutual benefit, focus on cooperation and manage differences so as to secure a healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, he added.

At Xi's invitation, Trump will pay a state visit to China later this year, Yang said, adding that Beijing is willing to work with Washington to help ensure that the visit will achieve positive results.

Yang urged the two sides to strengthen bilateral exchanges and dialogues at all levels, expand mutual beneficial cooperation in various fields, boost people-to-people and local region exchanges, respect each side's core interests and major concerns, properly manage differences in a constructive way, and enhance coordination and cooperation on major global and regional issues.

Tillerson said the United States is willing to work with China to promote bilateral ties.

Trump is looking forward to his visit to China, during which he will map out the future development of China-U.S. relations with Xi, said Tillerson.

On the basis of the first diplomatic and security dialogue as well as comprehensive economic dialogue, the United States is willing to work with China to successfully launch the first social and cultural issues dialogue, law enforcement and cyber security dialogue, he said.

Washington wishes to deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields, strengthen communication and coordination on global and regional issues, said Tillerson.

He also expressed the hope that both sides would jointly make Trump's visit a success.

Yang and Tillerson also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

Yang paid an official visit to Jamaica on Sunday and Monday and met with Tillerson when he stopped over in Washington on Tuesday. He will pay an official visit to Spain on Thursday and Friday at the invitation of the Spanish government.