WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- There are clear, new opportunities for the United States and China to build a stronger relationship if there is sufficient political will for cooperation, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai has said.

"Going forward there are clear, new opportunities for our two countries to strengthen our cooperation, to build a stronger relationship between us," said Cui in a recent interview with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson on the podcast program "Straight Talk with Hank Paulson."

One of these opportunities is bilateral cooperation to deal with the current pandemic, to develop treatment, cures and possible vaccines, to save life, to protect people's livelihood and jobs, to restart economic growth and to give people better confidence in the economic prospects, said Cui.

The two countries should also resume and strengthen their cooperation on issues like climate change, as well as international hotspot issues or conflicts, such as the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the Iranian nuclear issue, he added.

"There are so many of them. If there is sufficient political will for cooperation, certainly the opportunities are there," he said.

Talking about his experience as ambassador for more than seven years, Cui said he feels grateful for "doing this job at this critical moment for both our countries."

"The relations between the two countries are faced with such tremendous challenges ... This is my dedication to my country and my people, and this is what I owe to all my American friends," the ambassador noted.

Cui said he will work with the U.S. side to make sure that China-U.S. ties will come back on the right track, calling for more efforts from the two sides to "open up new opportunities for further cooperation."

Held on Aug. 28 and aired on Monday, the Chinese ambassador's talk with Paulson covered topics including current China-U.S. relations, bilateral economic and trade cooperation, global governance, and China's economy.