Premier Li Keqiang interacts with American friends in New York

Premier Li Keqiang interacts with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Thomas W. Farley, Chief Operating Officer, NYSE: Premier Li, thank you so much for being here and thank you for having us in your hotel. It truly is an honor and thank you very much. The US and China need each other more than ever, and are the two strongest economies. You've spoken in your speech about mutual respect, and there is no doubt about mutual respect. At the same time, we have noticed the problem of mistrust between the two countries. In the US, there are negative articles in the press about currency rate setting or the respect for intellectual property in China. And the Chinese press also finds negative things about the US. My question truly is what can we do about this mistrust and how can we reduce the level of mistrust and increase the level of cooperation?

Premier Li: It's true that there are misconceptions and differences between our two countries. But I believe the level of mutual understanding between our two countries far outweighs that of misconception and differences. It is natural to have differences on specific matters, and they need to be properly viewed and handled. Just now you said "coming to my hotel". But I want to make a correction here for the record. That is, as far as I know, a Chinese private company has acquired stakes in the hotel, but the hotel is still under long-standing management of American businessmen. (Applause.) So I'm still staying at a hotel run by Americans. (Laughter and applause.)

Talking about media coverage of each other's countries, I think we need to take a look at the whole picture. If you read news from a certain media, I will not name it to avoid making advertisement for it, maybe you will find some reports on the other country. Sometimes truthful and objective coverage may not get people's eyes. But nitpicking does. Certainly if it is a well-intentioned report, even if it is critical, I believe it is welcomed, because it helps both sides to improve what we have been doing.

As for the question of the RMB exchange rate, it will take quite some time to dig into the details. In a word, there is not a basis for continuous devaluation of the Chinese currency, and China has no intention to use the devaluation of the currency to boost export, because that is not good for China's economic upgrading.

As for how to boost mutual trust and narrow misconceptions, I think the key lies in closer mutual exchanges. As far as I know, last year, Chinese tourists made over 2.6 million visits to the US, and now there are some 600,000 Chinese students in the US. But I also know that many Americans have not been to China yet. So the key to removing misconceptions and increasing mutual trust lies in strengthening people-to-people exchanges and promoting candid discussions among them.

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