Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo met separately with Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. secretary of state in New York on December 10, and Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank in Washington on December 11.
In two weeks, China and the United States will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Dai said at the meetings. With 30 years of continuous growth, the bilateral relationship has achieved so much that its extensiveness and depth have gone beyond whatever had been imagined three decades ago, he said. Dai praised Kissinger and Zoellick for their contributions to the development of China-U.S. relations. The China-U.S. ties are in a period of historic significance, Dai said. China hopes that the Sino-U.S. relationship could continue to develop in a sound and stable manner and achieve even greater and better growth in the next 30 years or a longer period of time, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo said. This is not only in the common interests of the two countries but also beneficial to the world as well, Dai said. Both sides should make joint efforts to further the relationship by always treating it from a strategic and long-term perspective and enhancing mutual trust, he said. The two sides should also fully respect each other's core interests and concerns, properly handle their differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthen communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, he added.
Kissinger hailed the establishment of diplomatic ties with China as the United States' greatest foreign policy achievement in decades. Over the past 30 years, great changes have taken place in China and China-U.S. relations have also witnessed historic growth, he said. Expressing confidence in future China-U.S. relations, Kissinger said the two sides should strengthen strategic cooperation and work together to promote world peace and prosperity.
Zoellick, for his part, told Dai that the new international situation calls for a strengthening of the strategic dialogue between China and the United States. The two sides should deepen their cooperation in coping with the ongoing financial crisis, fighting terrorism, and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and jointly meet challenges, said Zoellick.
At the invitation of the U.S. government, Dai arrived in New York on December 10, for a working visit to the United Sates and for the sixth Strategic Dialogue between China and the United States.