A view of Wall Street in New York, the US Photo: IC

Any conflict or confrontation between China and the US would produce no winner, and spell disaster for the world, Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng said at a forum on Tuesday. The ambassador noted that the only right choice for the two countries "is to combat global challenges together, and provide more peace and development dividends to the world".

Xie's remarks came amid US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's visit to China, the fourth senior US government official visiting the country this year, following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Climate Envoy John Kerry.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed China's willingness to engage in more dialogues over trade issues when he met with Raimondo in Beijing on Tuesday. Li called for more concrete efforts from the US side to push forward the sound development of relations between the two countries. 

Li noted that the essence of China-US economic and trade relations is of "mutual benefit and win-win."

During talks with Premier Li Qiang, Raimondo said that the Biden administration has no intention of curbing China's development and does not seek to "de-couple" from China. It is willing to maintain communications with China, maintain normal economic and trade relations between the two nations, and promote the stable development of bilateral relations, according to Xinhua.

The two countries need to find a path for a turbulent world to restore stability, a path for China and the US to get along in the new era, and a path for expanding mutually beneficial economic cooperation and trade between China and the US, Xie said, in a keynote speech at the fifth US-China Business Forum held by Forbes in New York. 

Ambassador Xie noted that the world is facing a challenging time, the global recovery remains sluggish, and every country has its own problems to tackle. All are in the same boat. No one can stay aloof, still less profit at others' expense. Bloc confrontation will not bring peace or security, and "de-coupling" will only backfire. Only by pulling together can we tide over the difficulties, he said.

China and the US are the world's two largest economies and P5 members. Any conflict or confrontation between China and the US would produce no winner, and spell disaster for the world. 

Ambassador Xie admitted that China-US relations have run into serious difficulties over the past few years. This does not serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples, nor does it meet the common expectation of the international community. Recently, the two countries have held a series of high-level interactions. The two sides have agreed to return to the Bali agenda, and jointly sent out a signal of enhancing dialogue and cooperation to stabilize their bilateral ties. 

Xie said that in order to keep abreast with the times, find new paths forward, and fully leverage the role of China-US economic and trade ties as a ballast and propeller, the two countries needed to firm up confidence, remove disruptions and pool strengths. 

China's openness and development prospects are the country's greatest source of confidence. Any "de-coupling" between China and the US would be the greatest disruption, he added. 

Raimondo will visit New York University's Shanghai campus as well as Shanghai Disneyland on Wednesday, a joint venture of Walt Disney and Chinese state-owned Shendi Group and she is expected to hold a press conference at a Boeing Shanghai facility before departing, Reuters reported.

Global Times