WASHINGTON, June 18 -- The United Statesis working to expand areas of practical cooperation with China while seeking to resolve or manage their differences, a senior U.S. official said Thursday prior to a major round of Sino-U.S. high-level talks.

Hosting a media briefing on the forthcoming seventh round of the Sino-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and the sixth round of High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), Daniel Russell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that the United States has worked year after year "to help make space for China's growth."

The special representatives for President Xi Jinping, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi will co-host the S&ED with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who represent President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, Kerry will co-chair the CPE with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong.

"We don't always see eye to eye. But the fact is that global challenges require that we cooperate. They require collaborative solutions," Russell said, noting that the two countries have a "very complex, very consequential relationship."

"We've welcomed China's emergence on the world stage and participation in the global system," he added.

Russell elaborated on the "four attributes of the S&ED" that help make the dialogues effective. Firstly, it is a very high-level dialogue and is the "flagship in the dialogue mechanisms" that the two sides have developed.

Such high-level meetings help get the message through and things done. Last year's S&ED prompted President Obama to visit China in November, while this year's talks will help pave the way for Xi's first scheduled state visit to the United States, Russell said.

Secondly, the S&ED is a broad-based dialogue, with at least nine different U.S. government agencies attending the dialogue in the strategic track alone and eight cabinet-level U.S. officials engaging in both tracks.

Thirdly, the dialogue "gives us the opportunity to work across the span of the Chinese interagency," which is essential to "ensuring that everybody in their system is similarly on the same page."

Fourthly, it is the continuity of the talks through the S&ED that allows the two countries to build on previous progress and dig deeper on important issues, such as leading the international community into the Paris Climate Change Conference, which is to be held in November.

Russell said the two sides will host a joint session focusing on cooperation to reduce emissions, make energy cleaner, protect the oceans and provide support for developing and crisis-hit countries.

The U.S. official commended China's growing ability to have a positive impact beyond its borders. He cited China's contribution to combating the Ebola epidemic and helping Afghanistanachieve a smooth transition after the U.S. pullout as examples.

Other issues to be covered in the three-day intensive talks include global hot topics like terrorism, nuclear proliferation and wildlife trafficking, as well as regional issues such as the Korean Peninsula, Afghanistan, Iranian nuclear talks and the South China Seadispute.

Russell paid particular attention to the Strategic Security Dialogue (SSD), which will be held by senior diplomats and military officials to discuss "the most difficult, the most sensitive, and the most vexing security issues" that concern the two countries. On this year's SSD agenda are issues related to cyber security, outer space and military interaction on the high seas and in the air.

Russell praised the CPE as a "really important element" in developing strong bilateral ties and "an extremely valuable tool" in promoting mutual understanding. He revealed that the U.S. National Hockey League and the American College of Sports Medicine will join this year's CPE to discuss how to get more disabled people and women into the game.

Russell stressed that all these talks will provide both sides with "a really important, regularized platform to strengthen our relationship, to deepen our coordination, to promote cooperation, and to narrow where we can -- at least manage -- our differences."

Responding to a question on the dispute over the sovereignty of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, Russell said that the United States has "an unwavering determination" to avoid military confrontation, including with China.

Fundamentally, it is not an issue between the United States and China, but between China and some ASEANcountries, he said, while calling on China to stop militarizing outposts in the South China Sea. He also called for a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes through diplomacy or arbitration.

China has announced that the land reclamation project on some islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands will be completed in the upcoming days as planned, and it will start to build facilities to meet relevant functional requirements. It has also defended its right to build certain military facilities for self-defense purposes only.

On another contentious issue, namely cyber security, Russell said that cyberspace is one of the important areas in which the two sides must cooperate, as China and the United States are the two biggest Internet consumers. Their businesses, organizations and people are vulnerable when confronting cyber violence.

"That means that there is a need for dialogue. It means that there is a need for real transparency between us. And it means that there's a need for cooperation," he said.