China wants to expand cooperation with US, state councilor says

China hopes to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with the United States and push bilateral ties to keep developing healthily and steadily, State Councilor Yang Jiechi said when meeting US President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday.

Conveying President Xi Jinping's greetings to Trump, Yang said bilateral ties have achieved new and important progress under the guidance of the important consensus the heads of state of the two countries reached in their meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Florida in April.

Such progress, including reaching agreement on the "early harvest" from the 100-Day Plan, a plan the two presidents agreed on in their Mar-a-Lago meeting to bolster bilateral economic ties, has brought tangible benefits to people of both countries, according to the state councilor.

Yang also said China is willing to work with the US to maintain high-level exchanges as well as exchanges at other various levels and handle properly disputes on the basis of mutual respect.

The state councilor was in Washington attending the first round of the China-US Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, which was held on Wednesday.

He said this round of the dialogue, which both sides believe was constructive and fruitful, was an important step to implement the important consensus between the heads of state of the two countries.

Yang said Xi looks forward to meeting Trump again during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany in July, and welcomes Trump to pay a state visit to China this year.

Yang also said China highly appreciates the fact that the US government sent delegates to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which was held in Beijing in May.

Trump requested Yang to convey his greetings to Xi, and said he was pleased with the progress bilateral cooperation has achieved since the Mar-a-Lago meeting.

Trump said the US hopes to cooperate with China in projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Speaking of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Trump said the US looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China to achieve the peninsula's denuclearization at an early date.

Yang reiterated China's position on the issue, and said China hopes to continue to maintain communication and collaboration with all related parties, including the US, to make joint efforts to ease tension in the peninsula and solve the issue properly.

Yang also met US National Security Advisor Herbert Raymond McMaster and Jared Kushner, senior advisor to the US president in the White House on Thursday.