China 'to press US' on maritime issues

Busy agenda set for annual exchange

Beijing and Washington have planned an "unusually rich calendar" next week for an annual, high-level people-to-people exchange, which is expected to result in a number of cooperation projects, a source close to the event said.

Beijing announced on Monday that Vice-Premier Liu Yandong will join US Secretary of State John Kerry for the seventh annual China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange.

High-level officials from the countries' education, culture, health, science and technology, women, sports and youth sectors will meet for one day of talks in early June before joining large-scale talks the next day, said the source, who declined to be identified.

"Cultural and personnel exchanges have intertwined and reinforced political mutual trust and business ties," said Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies.

Such exchanges "have produced stronger resilience for the ties ... and will make the overall ties more sustained", Ruan added.