WASHINGTON - President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States this week will promote stable and strengthened ties between the two major world powers and have a far-reaching impact on bilateral relations, Chinese Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui said over the weekend.

Invited by US President Barack Obama, Hu will pay a four-day visit to the US from Jan 18-21 in Washington and Chicago.

It is his second state visit to the US since 2006, and it will be the eighth summit between the two leaders over the past two years.

Special Coverage:  Hu's US Visit

"It comes at a critical time when China-US relations are entering a new era," Zhang told Chinese media.

"President Hu's visit will lift ties to a higher level."

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the reopening of dialogue and engagement between the two countries. In 1971, Henry Kissinger, then US secretary of state, paid a highly confidential visit to China to pave the way for the normalization of Sino-US relations.

"Despite the achievements in our cooperation in every field, we are facing new challenges. So President Hu's state visit will attach great significance to future China-US relations," Zhang said.

After an optimistic start in 2009 highlighted by Obama's state visit to China, bilateral ties experienced a long period of tension last year.

As predicted by many analysts, due to the sluggish US economic recovery from the global financial crisis and the hotly contested mid-term elections, Washington adopted a harder line toward China.

Ties have been disrupted by Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama, US arms sales to Taiwan, disagreements on the appreciation of the Chinese currency, continued trade frictions and a series of regional security issues.

But thanks to the joint efforts of both sides to secure one of the world's most important bilateral relationships, ties have warmed up through the unprecedented number of high-level meetings held recently.

"Since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979, bilateral ties have experienced stable development and achieved great progress," Zhang said.

"We have more common interests than differences."

The ties are strengthened by vast economic cooperation, educational and cultural exchanges, and common challenges regarding regional and global issues.

The annual trade volume between China and the US has reached over $400 billion. China is second-largest trading partner of the US, the largest source of imports and the largest export market for US goods outside North America.

About 130,000 Chinese students are currently in the US, making China the country's largest source of foreign students.

The two countries have been working closely on global issues, such as climate change, nuclear nonproliferation and rebalancing the world economy since the 2008 global financial crisis.

But it is not strange to see China and the US hold different views on some issues due to the differences in their political systems, culture, history and social development, Zhang said.

"The key is to respect and take care of each other's core interests and major concerns, and we must solve the problems through dialogue and consultation on an equal footing."

In the context of growing globalization and common challenges, the ambassador called for a new approach to look at bilateral relations and said a "stable and strengthened" China-US relationship can benefit not only the two peoples but the rest of the world.

"China-US relations are not a zero-sum game," he said. "As long as both sides work together, increase dialogue, enhance mutual trust and seek cooperation, we can get a win-win situation."

To prepare for President Hu's visit, on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid out Washington's strategy on relations with China, reaffirming that the US welcomes China as a rising power.

The US will embed the relationship with China within a broader regional framework in the Asia-Pacific region, build up bilateral trust and expand cooperation to address shared challenges, Clinton said.

"Today we have a positive relationship with China and the chance for a very positive future," she said.

"The United States welcomes China as a rising power. We welcome China's efforts not only to lift their own people out of poverty, but to export prosperity and opportunity."

China Daily

(China Daily 01/17/2011 page12)