'China, US should be partners rather than rivals,' says President Xi

ANKARA

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that China and the US should be partners rather than rivals, according to state-run media.

Meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, Xi said that Beijing is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous and thriving United States, and hopes Washington can also look at China's development in a positive light, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed, just like the first button of a shirt that must be put right, in order for the China-U.S. relationship to truly stabilize, improve, and move forward," the agency quoted Xi as saying.

He added the two countries should not be rivals but help each other succeed rather than hurt each other.

"Seek common ground and reserve differences, rather than engage in vicious competition, and honor words with actions, rather than say one thing but do the opposite," he said.

"I proposed mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation to be the three overarching principles," said Xi, adding that he said many times that planet is big enough to accommodate both countries’ development and prosperity.

"But there are still issues to be addressed which require further efforts. Your visit this time was agreed upon between President (Joe) Biden and I in our phone call several weeks ago. I hope you will find it productive," Xi said.

After arriving in China on Wednesday on a three-day visit, Blinken met with his counterpart Wang Yi and other officials. This is his second visit to China in less than a year.

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met in San Francisco last November for a summit that paved the way for resuming military-to-military communications and "clear and open" communication between defense establishments to avoid miscalculations by either side and prevent a conflict.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid