China and the United States are witnessing growing bilateral
ties, which are expected to be further boosted by China's
determination to build a harmonious society at home and promote the
establishment of a harmonious community in the world.
Bilateral relations will also benefit from the scheduled meeting
between Chinese President Hu Jintao and
his US counterpart George W. Bush in Washington next month.
This state visit will be the first one to the United States by
Hu Jintao as Chinese president after his inauguration in 2003.
In recent years, China and the United States carried out broad
cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, anti-terrorism,
non-proliferation and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular,
the Iranian nuclear issue, United Nations reform and prevention of
bird flu.
Such cooperation and coordination between the two UN Security
Council permanent members is fruitful and has had a positive impact
on the international community.
Hu and Bush last November pledged to promote the all-round
development of constructive and cooperative Sino-US relations
during their talks in Beijing.
However, due to their different social systems, economic
development levels and culture, there are still differences between
China and the US - one is the largest developing country and the
other is the largest developed country.
Although increasing trade has sparked disputes, the two sides
are trying their best to solve some problems through
consultations.
Since early March this year, several US government officials
including US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez have conferred
with their Chinese counterparts on the issues concerning the
protection of intellectual property rights, exchange rates of
Chinese currency Renminbi and US deficit in trade with China during
their visit to China.
The Chinese side has fully expounded its stand on these issues
and earnestly taken measures to deal with concerns from the US
side.
In fact, the soaring Sino-US trade has helped the two countries'
economic progress and brought about tangible benefits for the two
peoples.
China-US trade hit US$212 billion?last year, up 24.8
percent over the previous year. China has become the largest
importer of US soybean and cotton. The Chinese market recorded the
fastest growth for US exports.
Some 4 million to 8 million?US jobs?are directly or
indirectly produced by China-US trade.
In his New Year speech for 2006, Hu Jintao vowed that the
development of China is occurring in a peaceful, open, cooperative
and harmonious manner. China will seek a peaceful international
environment for its development and then contribute to world
peace.
All of those will help promote the development of Sino-US
relations, according to local analysts.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2006)
