US, China need stronger ties: Chinese ambassador

Grand Rapids (United States), Feb 9 (IANS) Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai has emphasised that China and the United States need to develop stronger ties in the future.

Cui made the remarks while addressing a public event held by a non-profit organization in the Midwestern US state of Michigan on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We need to develop even stronger relationship on the basis of coordination, cooperation and stability" between the two countries, the Chinese envoy said.

Asserting that China and the United States are "two very different countries" in terms of history and culture among other areas, Cui said it was important for the two sides to "have much better mutual understanding" for each other's intention and policy and identify common grounds to stabilize the relationship.

"We have so many global issues that we have to work together on," including climate change, terrorism, poverty, pandemics and natural disaster, the veteran diplomat noted.

"No country can handle it all by itself," he added.

More than 400 guests, including former US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, attended the luncheon held by the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan, which aims to provide forums for conversation on international topics.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the China-US diplomatic relations.

Bilateral trade grew from less than USD 2.5 billion 40 years ago to more than USD 580 billion in 2017. Over the same period, the stock of two-way investment rose from practically nil to more than USD 230 billion.