Chinese leaders meet senior U.S. envoy

BEIJING, Jan. 22 -- Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao and State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Wednesday met separately with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.

Noting that this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations, Li called on the two countries to implement the important consensus of their presidents and stick to the direction of building new-model relations between major powers.

Li urged the two countries to actively expand pragmatic cooperation, properly manage differences and sensitive issues, advance multiple-tier and all-round exchanges and seek positive growth of China-U.S. relations.

Burns said good China-U.S. relations matter not only to the two countries, but also to the whole world.

He underscored U.S. commitment to advancing positive and all-round cooperation with China and building new-model relations between major powers.

In his meeting with Burns, Yang said China-U.S. relations are faced with new important opportunities this year, calling for stronger trust and cooperation, proper settlement of differences and new progress in China-U.S. relations.

Burns said the United States would like to strengthen dialogues and cooperation in bilateral and multilateral spheres, manage differences and advance new-model relations between major powers.

Burns arrived in Beijing on Tuesday on the second leg of his three-nation tour after a stop in Republic of Korea. He will travel to Japan on Thursday.