China is ready to strengthen exchanges with the United States in economic and trade fields, and carry out cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"I look forward to joint efforts with our U.S. colleagues to follow the spirit of the phone call between the presidents of the two countries, stepping up communications, enhancing understanding, focusing on cooperation and managing differences to push bilateral economic and trade relations back on a cooperative track," he said.
China has always held that the essence of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win results, Wang stressed, adding that cooperation is the only correct choice as the interests of both sides are deeply integrated.
Despite the global trade slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic, trade between China and the United States has bucked the trend. Customs data showed bilateral trade of goods went up 8.8 percent in 2020 in yuan-denominated terms.
China is the largest trading partner of the United States, and the bilateral trade and investment cooperation between the two sides has made positive contributions to their respective economic recovery, Wang said.
"This fully demonstrates that economic and trade cooperation is a force that actively promotes the relationship between the two countries and brings tangible benefits to both sides," he added.
