Nobody can contain China's development: defense chief

BEIJING - China's defense minister on Tuesday said the country's development cannot be contained by anyone.

"The China-U.S. relationship is neither comparable to U.S.-Russia ties in the Cold War, nor a relationship between container and contained. China's development can't be contained by anyone," Chang Wanquan told reporters after his talks with U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel on Tuesday morning.

Hagel arrived in Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province on Monday for his first China visit as U.S. defense chief. He visited China's Liaoning aircraft carrier on Monday afternoon.

Saying China and the United States are building a new model of major-country relations in accordance with the consensus between their two presidents, Chang said the new relations are first reflected in the Asia-Pacific region.

"China and the United States have far more areas of common ground than they do differences in the region," he said, adding that China respects the U.S. presence and impact in the Asia-Pacific region.

Stressing the US strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific should work for peace and development, Chang urged the United States to respect China's interests and concerns.