Fourthly, President Xi's visit will be future-oriented. During the visit, the two sides will not only take stock of the past and enhance mutual trust, but more importantly, they will work together to articulate a vision for the future.

China and the US are two permanent members of the UN Security Council and the world's biggest and second biggest economies. The direction of China-US relations not only concerns the vital interests of the two peoples, but also bears on the future of the Asia-Pacific and the whole world. Therefore, many countries will follow the visit closely, hoping to understand more about China's development orientation in the future and get clues for reasonable expectation for China-US relations. They will be looking for signals on whether the two countries are competing or cooperating, and whether they will live together in peace or get stuck in friction or even confrontation.

President Xi will bring a clear message to the government and people of the United States and to people of the world. That is, China, a big country in the East with a 5000-year-old civilization, will continue to follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, its independent foreign policy of peace and the win-win strategy of opening-up. What China stands for is peaceful development, not hegemony; greater democracy in international relations, not power politics; win-win cooperation, not zero-sum game; and a right approach to interests and principles, not a pursuit for selfish interests. Following its comprehensive four-pronged strategic agenda, China is committed to continuing reform and opening-up, improving rule of law and fostering a more mature market. This will certainly open up broader prospects for cooperation with the United States and the rest of the world.

American leaders have emphasized many times that they welcome a strong, prosperous and stable China which plays a bigger role in international and regional affairs. We hope the US will match this important statement with concrete actions and follow it earnestly in its interactions with China. We hope people could hold such expectations that whatever changes at home, both sides will stay on the track of building a new model of major country relationship; whatever problems that may crop up in the relationship, both sides will respect each other, enhance trust and reduce misgivings and seek common ground while removing differences to maintain healthy and steady growth of the bilateral relationship; and whatever issues and challenges the international community might confront, the two sides will strengthen cooperation to safeguard world peace and promote development of mankind.