Xi: Exchanges play vital role

Door of China-US ties cannot be shut again once opened, says president

President Xi Jinping underlined on Wednesday the significance of people-to-people exchanges in bolstering ties between China and the United States, while addressing a welcome dinner jointly hosted by friendly organizations in San Francisco.

He said at the event, attended by 400 guests, including US business leaders and citizens committed to China-US friendship, that it is wrong to view China, which is committed to peaceful development, as a threat and thus play a zero-sum game against it.

"China never bets against the United States, and never interferes in its internal affairs. China has no intention to challenge the United States or to unseat it. Instead, China will be glad to see a confident, open and ever-growing United States," he told the guests, who included Sarah Lande, an old friend who had welcomed Xi twice to the state of Iowa, and Harry Moyer, a 103-year-old Flying Tigers veteran.