Spotlight: Xi's visit charts course for strengthening strategic mutual trust with U.S.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the United States has charted the course for strengthening strategic mutual trust between the two countries and will have a profound influence on the future of bilateral relations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said.

The historic four-day visit, which started on Sept. 22, came in a year that marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the United Nations, Wang said.

It wrote a new chapter in the development of China-U.S. relations and opened a new phase for Chinese diplomacy, he added.

Under the current international situation, China-U.S. relations are of greater global and strategic significance, he said, noting that Xi's U.S. tour injected fresh energy into the development of bilateral ties and lifted the two countries' cooperation to a new stage.

During the visit, Xi stressed that it should be a long-term goal for China and the United States to build a new model of major-country relationship.

According to an outcome list of Xi's visit, the two sides "agreed to continue the endeavor to build a new model of major-country relationship between China and the United States based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation."

"The two sides agreed that, as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and countries with important global influence, China and the United States should remain committed to maintaining a strong China-U.S. relationship to contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the world and the region," said the list, which has 49 items on it.

The outcome further affirms the future and strategic significance of China-U.S. relations in the complicated and changing international context, Wang said.

Xi also called on the two countries to maintain high-level exchanges, expand pragmatic cooperation, conduct closer people-to-people exchanges, and deepen dialogue and cooperation in Asia-Pacific affairs, so as to jointly cope with regional and global challenges.

The international community thus is full of new hope and expectation for the future of China-U.S. relations, said the foreign minister.

After Xi's visit, China and the United States have further promoted their strategic mutual trust, said Wang.

Just upon his arrival in Washington, Xi had a three-hour-long informal meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama.

The two presidents' night stroll along the Pennsylvania Avenue to Blair House, the U.S. president's official guest house, reminded people of the one they made at Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing in November 2014 when Obama paid a state visit to China.

Bilateral ties are further steered out, as Xi described his summit meeting with Obama as "fruitful and constructive" at a joint press conference after their formal talks in the White House.

During the talks, Xi spoke of China's view on peaceful development and international order, and expounded on his country's stance on issues relating to territorial and sovereign integrity.

"People should give up the old concepts of 'you lose, I win' or 'zero-sum game,' and establish a new concept of peaceful development and win-win cooperation," he said.

The sound development of both China and the United States is conducive to each other and the whole world, he noted, saying the two countries' common interests go far beyond their differences.

"I sincerely hope that both China and the United States, in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and people around the world, will make concerted efforts to build a new model of major-country relationship between them," Xi said.

Obama expressed appreciation of China's commitment to cooperation with the United States, saying it will not only be conducive to the two countries, but also benefit the world at large.

Reaffirming the "one-China" policy, he said a stable, prosperous and peaceful China will play a constructive role in international affairs.

The two leaders conducted an in-depth exchange of views on domestic and foreign policies, bilateral ties, and international and regional affairs, agreeing to read each other's strategic intentions correctly, strengthen strategic mutual trust, and avoid strategic misunderstanding and misjudgment.

Wang said the two sides' agreement on sound interactions on some hot-button issues, including cybersecurity and the South China Sea, indicated that they are fully capable of turning their differences into cooperation.

Xi's visit will lay a solid foundation for the long-term development of China-U.S. ties, create more opportunities for achieving China's development goals, and set an example for building a new model of international relations, said the foreign minister. Endi