China is reaching out to incoming U.S. president Joe Biden saying it wants to reset bilateral relations.
"The two sides should work together," State councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi said during a video call with the U.S.-China Business Council.
"We need to strive to restart the dialogue, get back on the right track, and rebuild mutual trust in the next phase of China-US relations," Yi said.
Yi said China and the U.S. should work to "expand consensus" and cooperation. "For problems that cannot be immediately resolved we need to maintain a constructive attitude to manage the situation to avoid intensifying and escalating the overall situation," Wang said.
This will mean both countries must "strive to restart the dialogue, get back to the right track, and rebuild mutual trust in the next phase of Sino-U.S. relations," Wang said.
He blamed growing divisions between the U.S. and China on Americans with "outdated Cold War mentality and ideological prejudices."
"The key is to respect each other," Wang said.
"Respect each others historical and cultural heritage, respect each others core interests and major concerns, and respect each others...choices."
Vice-Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said China was counting on the incoming U.S. administration to meet China halfway. It also hopes the next president will manage U.S. differences with China and advance China-U.S. ties along the right track.
"The Chinese attitude on China-U.S. relations is clear and consistent," Le said. "Although there are disagreements between China and the U.S., there is vast room for mutual benefit and cooperation. I hope the new U.S. administration will meet China halfway."
That approach should include "upholding a principle of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation," Le said.
"Maintaining and promoting the healthy and stable growth of China-U.S. relations is in line with the fundamental interests of the people of both countries and serves the common expectation of the international community," he said.
