China-US relations key to world stability, envoy says

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng speaks at an event celebrating the 45th anniversary of China-US student exchanges and the Spring Festival Gala for Chinese and American youths at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, the United States, Jan 28, 2024. [Photo/us.china-embassy.gov.cn]

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng said China has brought much-needed stability and certainty to the turbulent world over the past year, through its steady economic growth, deepening of reform and opening-up, and commitment to peaceful development.

"The year 2023 has been an uphill battle for China, as the world struggles for growth, the Ukraine crisis drags on and the spillover effect of the abrupt escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli situation keeps growing," Xie said, noting that the relations between China and the US also encountered unprecedented difficulties in the first half of last year.

Xie, who is also a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, said that despite the unfavorable factors, China still achieved GDP growth of 5.2 percent in 2023, maintaining its contribution of more than 30 percent to world economic growth.

"China's development is driven not only by a reasonable growth in quantity, but also an effective upgrade in quality, and it has a solid foundation," he said, noting that more potential for the country's further growth remains to be tapped.

"We have the confidence to tell the world that China's growth is far from reaching its peak and we are continuing to create more Chinese miracles," Xie said during the annual sessions of the nation's top legislative and political advisory bodies in Beijing.

According to the ambassador, China is committed to promoting the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US ties and exploring the right way for the two countries to get along with each other in the new era, on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

"This not only serves the fundamental interests of the two sides, but also contributes to world stability and development," he said.

Since the historic meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, dialogue and cooperation have been conducted in fields such as economy, finance, agriculture, trade, military, climate change response and drug control.

Starting at the end of this month, the number of round-trip passenger flights between the two countries will increase to 100 per week.

"The two sides are in communication on the renewal of the China-US Science and Technology Agreement and in discussions on a new round of giant panda conservation cooperation," Xie said.

According to media reports, the San Diego Zoo is expected to receive a new pair of giant pandas from China this year.

However, Xie noted that some forces in the US are still continuously playing up the so-called "China threat", overstretching the concept of national security, suppressing Chinese enterprises, using the Taiwan question to contain China, building "a small yard and high fence" and seeking to decouple or sever supply and industrial chains.

"We have told the US side that the progress in bilateral ties has been hard-won, and it is important to draw lessons from the past," Xie said.

He urged Washington to work with Beijing to consolidate economic and trade cooperation, promote people-to-people exchanges, gather positive momentum for dialogue and communication, and build a breakwater to prevent interference in the progress of the relations.

"We hope the US side will recognize, from the recent years' ups and downs in China-US relations, that China's development is unstoppable, turning back on each other is not an option, attempting to change the other side is unrealistic, and the consequences of conflict or confrontation between the two countries are unbearable for either side," Xie said.