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Xi hopes Sino-US ties not affected by US elections

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Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Monday called on the U.S. side not to let its presidential elections negatively affect the development of Sino-U.S. ties.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (central) meets with several former senior U.S. officials in Washington, capital of the United States, Feb. 13, 2012. Among the former officials are former U.S. secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, former U.S. treasury secretary Henry Paulson, former U.S. national security advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, and former U.S. secretary of labor Elaine Chao. [Lan Hongguang/Xinhua]

"This year marks the election year of the United States. I believe no one of insight from the U.S. side would like to see that the election factors would have a regrettable impact on the development of ties between the two countries," Xi said during a meeting with several former senior U.S. officials in Washington.

Among these former U.S. officials are former U.S. secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, former U.S. treasury secretary Henry Paulson, former U.S. national security advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, and former U.S. secretary of labor Elaine Chao.

Noting that this year also marks the 40th anniversary of the visit of then U.S. President Richard Nixon to China and the issuance of the Shanghai Communique, Xi said that the tremendous development of bilateral ties over the past four decades has far exceeded the expectations of people.

During the meeting, Xi, who arrived in Washington earlier on Monday, made a four-point proposal on how to enhance the Sino-U.S. relationship.

Firstly, he said, the two sides should regard history as a mirror.

The four-decade-long development of China-U.S. relations has proved four pieces of historic experience: the common interest of both sides is the impetus; the three joint communiques signed by the two sides are the institutional guarantee; the mutual understanding and strategic trust are important prerequisites; the innovative spirit keeping abreast of times is the driving force, he said.

"All the experience is well worth cherishing and should continue to be followed," Xi said.

Secondly, he said both sides should adopt a long-term perspective.

To build a cooperative partnership between China and the United States is a great try in the establishment of ties between world powers, which concerns the benefits of people of both countries and the goodness of the whole world at large, Xi said.

Thirdly, he said, the two sides should respect each other and build mutual trust.

China firmly adheres to the path of peaceful development, and "we hold frank, sincere and consistent views on the development of China-U.S. relations," Xi said.

"We hope the U.S. side could view China in an objective and rational way, and adopt concrete measures to promote mutual trust, especially to properly and discreetly handle the issues concerning the core interests of China," said the Chinese vice president.

Fourthly, the two sides should achieve mutual benefits and win-win results, he said.

Bilateral trade volume reached more than 440 billion U.S. dollars last year, which reflects the essential feature of the economic complementarity of the two countries.

"We should deal with friction and differences in bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the spirit of seeking mutual benefits and win-win results through a positive and constructive way," Xi said.

Monday's meeting was Xi's first major event after he arrived in Washington for an official visit to the United States.