Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (R) shakes hand with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing, China, Feb. 21, 2009. Hillary Clinton arrived in Beijing on Friday evening, kicking off her visit to China. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday reaffirmed its efforts to ensure security and liquidity when deploying foreign exchange reserves.

    "We did use foreign exchange reserves to buy U.S. treasury bonds. Our principle of using reserves is to ensure security and liquidity," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the press following talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

    China replaced Japan as the top holder of U.S. treasury debt last September, with its overall holding hitting 585 billion U.S. dollars, according to U.S. Treasury data.

    Yang said China will continue to follow these principles when deciding on the ways and means of deploying the country's about two-trillion-U.S. dollar foreign exchange reserves in the future.

    Yang lauded China-U.S. trade relations, saying it generated tangible benefits to both people, particularly those with lower incomes.

    Despite the grave global financial turmoil, China-U.S. trade volume rose by 10.5 percent in 2008 to 333.7 billion U.S. dollars, according to the China's Customs.

    "We appreciated the efforts of the U.S. government to stimulate the economy and tackle the financial crisis," Yang said.

    Yang said China's four-trillion-yuan (about 580 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package would help boost China's economy, which is the country's biggest contribution to addressing the global financial crisis.

    "Facts proved that both countries had worked very well in dealing with the crisis. We would like to work more with the United States," Yang said.