Political leaders: Sino-US relations to grow

China is poised in the new era to deepen its relationship with the United States in their shared pursuit of a better world, and bilateral exchanges among political parties should play a bigger role, veteran politicians and strategists said on Monday in Beijing at a dialogue between the Communist Party of China and US political parties.

Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said the dialogue offers a chance to put into practice several crucial consensuses to strengthen bilateral ties reached between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump during the US leader's first visit to China last month.

The 10th US-China Political Party Leaders Dialogue, attended by some 50 delegates from both countries, came under the framework of the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting, which concluded on Sunday. Attendees on the US side were from both the controlling Republican Party and the Democratic Party, as well as from leading think tanks.

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, written into the Party Constitution during the 19th CPC National Congress in October, will inject fresh dynamism into the relationship, Song said.

Speaking highly of the 19th CPC National Congress and the just-concluded gathering between world political parties in Beijing, Ross Perot Jr., chairman of the EastWest Institute, a global security nonprofit organization, said Monday's dialogue "cannot be more well-timed". He hailed the congress as showcasing China's vision to advance social development in the next five years.

Alphonso Jackson, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said success is a "two-way street", and dialogue and exchanges will lead to agreements. "I believe we have much to learn from each other," he said.

cuishoufeng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/05/2017 page3)