China, U.S. hold 12th political party leaders dialogue

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The 12th China-U.S. Political Party Leaders Dialogue, co-sponsored by the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the U.S. Democratic Party and Republican Party, was held Monday via video link.

Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the dialogue. He said that China and the United States should implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen dialogue, meet each other halfway, and create advantages for the relationship between the two countries returning to the right track of stable development.

He said that the dialogue is conducive to enhancing communication, understanding, and mutual trust. China is willing to work with the two parties of the United States to give full play to the political leading role of political parties in relations between states. China would also promote the two sides to strengthen coordination and cooperation based on respecting each other's core interests and major concerns and properly managing differences to provide positive factors to the stable development of bilateral relations.

Representative of the Democratic Party Howard Dean, who is also the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and representative of the Republican Party Carla Hills, who is also a former U.S. trade representative, hailed the U.S.-China relationship as the most important bilateral ties globally. They added that the dialogue between political parties of the two countries is a vital part of bilateral ties.

Despite going through some hard times bilaterally, the two countries still share many common interests, they said. They called for more high-level dialogues to increase trust, advance cooperation, promote the two countries' development, and jointly tackle global challenges.