China to be "more open": vice premier

BEIJING - China will become "more open", Vice Premier Li Keqiang told former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Wednesday.

In a meeting between the two, Li said to expand domestic demand, tap the urbanization potential and develop other initiatives all required an increasingly open environment.

He said, "China has benefited from the opening-up. In the future China will become more and more open."

Li said reform and opening-up was China's inevitable path to the country's prosperity, working for the fundamental interests of its people.

Since China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2011, Chinese businesses have solidified their foothold in international competition and become stronger, Li said.

With further opening-up, China will expand its horizon, learn from other countries and cultivate advantages, Li said.

Li said China expects its partners to become more open, adhere to trade and investment liberalization and create a fair and just environment.

On China-U.S. relations, Li said China and the United States are building a cooperative partnership of mutual respect and mutual benefit.

To develop this partnership, the key is to highlight and expand common ground and control and narrow the disparities, Li said.

Li urged the U.S. to relax restrictions on high-tech product exports to China.

Li called on Paulson and his team to combine thinking and action and make more efforts to China-U.S. relations.

Paulson, who served under U.S. President George W. Bush as the Secretary of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009, said it is the consensus of the two major U.S. parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, to develop U.S.-China relations.

China's urbanization scale is unprecedented and adds color to global economic development, said Paulson, who now heads the Paulson Institute, an independent center at the University of Chicago that aims to promote sustainable economic growth and a cleaner environment.

Paulson said he and his team is committed to stronger collaboration with China in urbanization, agricultural investment and financial market construction.

The former U.S. official is in Beijing to attend a seminar on the sustainability of Chinese cities.