BEIJING - Vice-President Xi Jinping Friday urged the United States to take "concrete action at an early date" to relax restrictions on hi-tech exports to China.

Vice-President Xi Jinping (R) speaks next to US Vice-President Joe Biden during a discussion with US and Chinese business leaders at Beijing Hotel in Beijing August 19, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

He also called on the US side to provide a fair investment environment for Chinese enterprises in the United States.

Xi made the remarks at a high-level meeting of Chinese and US businesses, which was also attended by his US counterpart Joe Biden.

Xi said that the method of cooperation that has been used for the past three decades, in which the US provided funds and technology while China provided labor, resources and markets, has greatly changed.

Bilateral economic and trade cooperation is reaching wider areas and higher heights. Competition will definitely arise between businesses from both countries in the process of cooperation and development, but that kind of competition is benign and fundamentally beneficial to common development, he added.

"We would like to see such benign competition bring benefits to both sides and create win-win results," he said.