Xi: Confident about ties with US
June 9, 2013, 5:54 am

Xi, left, says he had candid talks with Obama [Xinhua]

The two presidents met twice and took a walk together over the weekend at Sunnylands, a 200-acre picturesque estate in the Californian city of Rancho Mirage.

Xi made his statements during a meeting with California Governor Edmund Brown shortly before wrapping up his two-day visit to the US.

Xi thanked Brown and other state officials for their hospitality and arrangements in hosting the face-to-face meeting between him and Obama, the first since the two countries completed their latest leadership transitions.

Xi told Brown that he and Obama had in-depth, sincere and candid discussions on bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues of common concern, and reached important consensus.

Speaking positively of the achievements and efforts made by Californian state government in promoting cooperation and exchanges with China, Xi said local-level cooperation can consolidate societal basis for China-US relations.

Both China and the United States have been making structural adjustments, maintaining economic growth and increasing employment, which provide numerous opportunities for cooperation, Xi said.

China is willing to expand economic cooperation and two-way investment with California and strengthen cooperation with the state in such fields as clean energy, information technologies, infrastructure construction and culture industries.

Brown said it was an honour for California to host the meetings between the Chinese and US presidents.

He said the world needs China and the United States to build a new type of major country relationship, which is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people.

California wants to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with China to make greater contribution to the development of US-China relations, the governor said.

New level of ties

Meanwhile, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi told reporters Saturday that Xi proposed to Obama that the two economic superpowers build a new type of bilateral relationship.

Laying out a four-point proposal, the Chinese leader said first of all, the two sides need to elevate the level of dialogue and mutual trust and institutionalize the meetings between leaders of the two nations at multilateral venues such as the Group of 20 and the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, while making good use of the existing over 90 dialogue and communication mechanisms between the two governments.

Secondly, to open a new horizon for pragmatic cooperation, Washington should take active steps to relax restrictions on hi-tech exports to China and promote the bilateral trade and investment structures toward a more balanced future.

Thirdly, to create a new mode of interaction between major countries, the two sides need to maintain close coordination and collaboration on the Korean Peninsula, Afghanistan and other global hotspot issues, and work more closely on issues such as crackdown on piracy and transnational crimes, peacekeeping tasks, disaster relief, cyber security, climate change and space security.

Lastly, the two sides need to find a new way to manage their difference and actively foster a new type of military relations in accordance with the new type of inter-power ties.

Cyber-security

Meanwhile, the issue of cyber-security – particularly in the wake of US accusations that the Chinese People’s Army had engaged in cyber-espionage on American firms – appears to have figured prominently in talks between the two presidents.

Yang said Saturday that Xi informed his counterpart that the Chinese government takes cyber security very seriously.

The Chinese president said China opposes hacker or cyber attack in all forms, and is itself a victim.

China and the United States face common challenges when it comes to the issue of cyber security, which should be a new highlight of bilateral cooperation instead of a source of suspicion and friction, said Xi.

The two countries have agreed to strengthen dialogue, coordination and cooperation through the already-established cyber working group.

The two leaders have also exchanged views on issues of intellectual property rights protection and human rights, Yang said.

Xi said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights, and will make greater efforts to improve relevant laws and strengthen law enforcement.

Xinhua