WASHINGTON, May 26 (Xinhuanet) -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the overall relationship between the United States and China have been strengthened.

    "I would say that we have really strengthened the relationship (between the United States and China) on a number of fronts" and the overall relationship between the two sides has been strengthened, Rice said in an interview with the Bloomberg News.

    She noted that US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao have established "a very good relationship," and that two countries have maintained coordination and cooperation on the nuclear issue on Korean Peninsula.

    The issue has not been resolved yet, but "to have a situation in which the United States and China have continued commitment to a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula and trying to do this with diplomatic means ... is quite an achievement," she said.

    Rice said the two countries have also strengthened cooperation in counterterrorism, and have "developed a relationship which we can talk pretty honestly and bluntly just about anything."

    "At the same time, we've had very good cooperation with the Chinese on a number of (United Nations) Security Council issues," she added.

    She acknowledged that some economic issues remain unsettled between the two sides, such as the protection of intellectual property rights and the currency issue. Enditem