Xi has phone talks with Obama

President Xi Jinping meets with his US counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on March 24, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held phone talks with his US counterpart, Barack Obama, and accepted the latter's invitation to pay a state visit to the United States in September.

The world's two biggest economies have been building a new type of major-country relationship and have maintained good development momentum in bilateral ties despite occasional disputes and frictions.

Promoting new type of major-country relations

During Wednesday's conversation, the two leaders agreed to work together to facilitate steady and healthy growth of China-US relations while promoting the development of a new type of major-country relationship.

Xi said that he and Obama have had a series of in-depth talks last year, reaching important agreements on bilateral and global issues and that he is looking forward to continuing strategic dialogues with Obama.

Xi expressed the hope that the two countries' Strategic and Economic Dialogue and high-level consultation on people-to-people exchanges, which will be held in the United States this year, will achieve as many positive results as possible.

During the conversation, the Chinese president also called on both sides to broaden cooperation in economy and trade, military affairs, energy, environmental protection, infrastructure and law enforcement, and expand people-to-people exchanges, so as to consolidate the foundation of China-US ties.

The two sides need to speed up talks on a bilateral investment treaty to foster new bright spots in trade and investment, and the US side should loosen restrictions on the export of high-tech products to China and take actions to facilitate Chinese investment in the country, Xi added.

On such major issues as climate change, global development agenda and world health security, the two countries should enhance communication and coordination, Xi stressed.

Urging both sides to respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, Xi expressed the hope that Washington takes seriously China's concern on Taiwan and Tibet, so as to keep China-US ties free from unfavorable interference.