Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Wednesday that China and the United States should positively carry out a large-scale economic and trade cooperation.

When meeting celebrities from the US economic and financial community, Wen said political and strategic mutual trust should be the precondition of such cooperation.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 31 years ago, China and the United States have developed a lot more common interests than differences. The two countries have strengthened strategic mutual trust, widened the basis for cooperation and deepened interdependence, Wen said.

He said a sound and stable Sino-US economic and trade relationship is in line with the fundamental interests of both countries.

The total trade volume was US$2.5 billion when diplomatic ties were forged in 1979, while the figure has surged to over US$350 billion at present, Wen said, adding that it signified the bilateral economic and trade relationship has kept a sound momentum.

China became the third biggest market for US exports in 2009. Over the past three decades, the US enterprises have altogether invested over US$62.2 billion in 58,000 projects in China, and in 2008 alone, their profits amounted to approximately US$8 billion, according to the official data provided by the Chinese government.

Wen said the RMB exchange rate isn't responsible for the mounting US trade deficits. The reason lies in the structure of Sino-US investment and trade. Both countries should carry out a large-scale trade investment cooperation based on equality, mutual trust and mutual benefit.

China has taken it as its national strategy to expand domestic demands, protect intellectual property rights and promote sustainable development, Wen said.

Foreign companies in China have always enjoyed national treatment and are welcomed to play a more active role in boosting China's development, he added.

During the discussion, participants from the US side, including former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, also called for closer cooperation between the two countries, adding that China is a stabilizing factor for global economic and financial system.

They said the development of a sound US-China economic and trade relationship would benefit both sides. The two countries should hold dialogues in wider aspects and properly handle their frictions.

During Wen's three-day visit here, he will address the UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the general debate of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly, a summit of the UN Security Council member states and a high-level discussion panel on AIDS and MDGs.

He will also meet some world leaders, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Sino-US friendship groups, overseas Chinese representatives and foreign media in New York.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2010)