China is willing to work with the United States to explore a road of new-type relations, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The new type of relations between major powers should be based on mutual respect, cooperation and seeking win-win situations, Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing.

Hua's comments came after US top security advisor Thomas Donilon said on Monday that the United States is looking for opportunities to further its relations with China, and that the two countries are not necessarily destined for confrontation.

"China's leadership transition and the president's [Barack Obama] re-election mark a new phase in US-China relations, with new opportunities," Donilon said.

China welcomes these positive comments, Hua said, stressing China-US relations now stay at "an important phase connecting past and future."

She said China is ready to work with the United States to further implement the important consensus reached by heads of the two countries, adhere to the correct direction of bilateral relations, strengthen cooperation and coordination in all fields as well as tangibly respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns.