SINGAPORE, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on China and the United States to reset the tone of their interactions, when delivering a closing address at the World Economic Forum Davos Agenda Week on Friday.

"Given the enormous stakes, difficult as it will be, it cannot possibly be too late for the U.S. and China to reset the tone of their interactions, and avert a clash between them, which will become a generational twilight struggle," Lee said.

He added that the new U.S. administration is an opportunity to steer the relationship towards safer waters, and amidst U.S. President Joe Biden's many urgent preoccupations, "the U.S.-China relationship should become a key strategic priority."

According to the prime minister, global cooperation is essential for tackling challenges, such as COVID-19, economic recovery, and climate change, and the international order must be underpinned by stable great power relations.

He said that big countries naturally jostle and compete with one another for influence and power, but they also need to work with one another, through established and accepted rules and norms, on issues that affect all sides in the world.

"Recent years have witnessed growing friction and distrust, rather than cooperation and confidence building, among major powers," Lee said, adding that the most worrying trend is in U.S.-China relations which remains the most important bilateral relationship for the world in the years ahead.