Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi answers questions during a press conference held by the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, March 7, 2009. (Xinhua Photo) Live Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China is ready to cooperate with the new U.S. administration to improve China-U.S. ties, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Saturday.

    Against the backdrop of worsening international financial crisis, China and the United States share broad common interests, Yang said on the sidelines of the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament.

    "I hope the two sides could accommodate the core interests of each other and further improve exchanges, coordination and cooperation," Yang said.

    "We believe that with joint efforts, the China-U.S. relations will proceed in a healthy and stable way," he said.

    Yang confirmed that there will be a planned meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a G20 summit in London in April.

    "Under the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, I will visit the United States soon to make preparations for the meeting between President Hu and President Obama in London," he said.

    The meeting will be the first between the two leaders since Obama took office in January.

    Yang said the China-U.S. relations got off to a good start since President Obama took office.

    Hu and Obama have talked over phone and reached many important consensus on jointly pushing forward bilateral relations, he said.

    During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to China in February, the two sides also expressed sincere wishes to improve China-U.S. ties, he said.

    The top priority at present for the world is to work together to ensure the success of the G20 summit to boost people's confidence, improve global coordination on macroeconomic regulation, stabilize financial market and push reforms to the financial system and regulatory regime and help with the development of developing countries, he said. 

Cooperation between U.S., China a must for world's economy to recover, say bankers

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- For the world's economy to recover, the United States and China must cooperate and become the engine for the Group of 20, the head, and the chief economist of the World Bank said on Friday.

"Without a strong G2, the G20 will disappoint," Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, and Justin Yifu Lin, chief economist and senior vice president of the bank, said in an article published in The Washington Post.

Expert: Economic crisis could be "turning point" for Sino-U.S. ties

HOUSTON, Mar. 1 (Xinhua) -- Bad global economy and climate change could create a turning point for U.S.-China relations as the two countries have to unite against the two "enemies" for the welfare of themselves and the world as well, a U.S. expert has said.

"It could be a turning point. Bad global economies and climate change are the enemies which China and the U.S. need to confront together," Orville Schell, director of Asia Society Center on U.S.-China relations, told Xinhua on the sideline of the annual conference of Asia Society here Thursday.

FM spokesman: Clinton's visit aids healthy growth of Sino-U.S. ties

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's China tour was conducive to the healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. ties, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Tuesday.

Ma made the remarks in response to comments on Clinton's visit from Feb. 20 to 22.

Clinton hopes for deeper, closer Sino-U.S. cooperative relations in next 30 years

BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday hoped the United States and China would make joint efforts in establishing deeper and closer cooperative relations in the next 30 years.

During a meeting with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Clinton spoke highly of the rapid development of Sino-U.S. ties in the past 30 years.

Wen, Clinton underline bilateral relations by citing Chinese proverbs

BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Saturday appreciated the great importance that the Obama administration places on expanding Sino-U.S. relations.

During a meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Wen said in the face of the complicated and ever-shifting international political and economic situation, China and the United States should not only "cross the river in a common boat," but also "progress together hand in hand."