President highlights ‘real benefits’ of Sino-US ties
China and the United States have far more common interests than differences, and with cooperation being the only right choice, China is ready to work further with the US to achieve a win-win outcome, President Xi Jinping said in a letter delivered to a US organization.
“Our relations have brought real benefits to our two peoples and contributed significantly to the peace, stability and prosperity of the world,” Xi wrote in the letter to the National Committee on United States-China Relations. The letter was delivered by Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the US, during the committee’s 2018 annual gala on Thursday in New York.
“China is ready to work with the US to expand globalization and achieve a win-win outcome,” Xi added.
“China will not stop its reform and will open itself even wider,” he said in the letter. “China’s development will bring more opportunities to the US and other countries.”
The National Committee on United States-China Relations, a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1966, is dedicated to fostering understanding and cooperation between the two countries.
Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, said at the gala, “I think we are now at a moment of fundamental importance of our history.”
It’s not surprising that there’s disagreement between the two sides, especially with the rapid development of the Chinese economy, said Kissinger, but the countries should form a unique pattern that stabilizes the relationship.
“A new pattern of economic relationships will emerge. Beyond that, China and the United States (should) find a way to a dialogue” to prepare for and overcome the challenges, he said. “I believe this is possible.”
Also speaking at the gala, Stephen Orlins, president of the NCUSCR, said that in the end, it is the peoples of the US and China who will determine the future of US-China relations.
“Those bonds remain strong,” he said, and this brings some brightness to the future of the bilateral ties.
The people-to-people connection was also highlighted in Ambassador Cui’s remarks during the gala.
“Over all these years, tremendous changes have taken place in both our countries and in the world at large,” Cui said. “But our two peoples have succeeded in building a strong and growing relationship between the two great countries.”
Also unchanged is China’s pursuit of peaceful development, said Cui. Trying its best to fulfill its people’s growing aspiration for a better life is China’s goal, he said.
Cui said that along the way, China will need to cooperate with countries worldwide, including the US, for a shared future. “And of course in this process, the United States would be, if not the most, one of the most important partners of China,” said Cui.