Washington, Jul 19 (IANS): Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang has said economic cooperation between China and the US holds out a promising future thanks to Beijing's long-term economic development trend and market potential.
"Cooperation is the only right choice for our two countries. The giant ship of China-US economic and trade relations is sailing on the right course," Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying on Tuesday at a China-US business luncheon ahead of the first China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue.
China has been pushing forward economic restructuring and adhering to reform and opening-up in its economic development. These efforts have yielded tremendous progress over the past decades, said Wang.
The contribution of China's consumption to economic growth jumped to 77 per cent in the first quarter of this year, up from 47 per cent in 2013, he noted.
The long-term certainty of China's development and progress offers the most important external environment for foreign businesses in the country, said the Vice Premier.
As China is upgrading its economy, Wang said, there is far greater complementarity than competition between the world's two largest economies. "The two countries have seen the space for cooperation expanded rather than narrowed."
In order to address trade imbalances, Wang called on the US to relax its outdated regulations on export control, stressing that as the Chinese economy climbs higher on the value chain, there is huge market potential for US exports of advanced technologies.
In his speech, Wang also stressed the importance of cooperation between the Chinese and US business communities.
"Your long-standing support and active participation have helped to create an atmosphere in favour of cooperation rather than confrontation for China-US business ties and have contributed to the China-US economic relationship as it stands today," Wang said.
Wang is scheduled to co-chair the first China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue together with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. It is one of four major dialogue mechanisms the two sides established in April.