Premier calls for efforts to expand pie of Sino-US cooperation

Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that there are no winners in trade wars and that no country can achieve development and prosperity through imposing tariffs.

Li made the remarks while meeting with United States Senator Steve Daines and a group of US executives in Beijing following an annual high-level development forum.

Li said that relations between the two countries "have come to an important juncture" and noted that President Xi Jinping said during a phone call with US President Donald Trump in January that the two countries could become partners and friends that contribute to each other's success.

"History tells us that China and the US both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Our two sides need to choose dialogue over confrontation, win-win cooperation over zero-sum competition," Li said.

The premier also said he hoped that the US will make more efforts to meet China halfway, so that the two countries can work together to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral ties.

Calling economic and trade cooperation a vital foundation for bilateral ties, Li called for expanding the pie of cooperation and using the growth of shared benefits to address issues such as trade imbalances.

He noted that over the past several decades, the two countries have witnessed fruitful results in the field of economic and trade cooperation, a testament to the joint efforts of both sides that should be cherished.

"The more challenges the China-US relationship faces, the more crucial it is to safeguard and enhance the large pie of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, so that it can continuously inject stability into bilateral ties," Li said.

China always welcomes enterprises from all countries to share its development opportunities, Li said, pledging that the country will address the reasonable concerns of enterprises, treat domestic and foreign companies equally, and continue to foster a favorable business environment.

The US guests said that American enterprises are actively participating in and supporting China's development. They said they are willing to continue investing in China and strengthen dialogue and cooperation in order to achieve mutual benefits and promote the ongoing progress of bilateral ties.

On Saturday, Vice-Premier He Lifeng also met with Daines in Beijing and expressed firm opposition to politicizing or weaponizing economic and trade issues.

Daines, a Republican from Montana, is the first member of the US Congress to visit Beijing since Trump took office.

zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn