China and the US concluded the second round of strategic talks in Washington Thursday, acknowledging their increasing common interests and vowing further cooperation.

 

During the two-day meeting, Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick focused their discussions on bilateral relations as well as major world and regional issues of common concern, according to sources from the Chinese Embassy there.

 

They said the talks were conducted with a candid, thorough and constructive exchange of views and were believed to have further forwarded mutual understanding and consensus building.

 

The Chinese and US sides agreed that China is developing in a responsible way for both the Chinese people and the world, and its development will benefit everyone.

 

Both said they believed that it is important for them to understand each other.

 

They also acknowledged an expansion of common interests and areas of cooperation and agreed that they should consider their relationship strategically with a long-term perspective.

 

They also said they should enhance mutual understanding, expand areas of consensus, deepen mutual trust, advance cooperation and handle differences carefully as agreed by President Hu Jintao and US President George W. Bush at their September meeting in New York and during Bush's visit to China last month.

 

They said the strategic talks would bring benefits and help increase mutual trust, and tentatively agreed to hold the next round in the first half of 2006.

 

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley also met with Dai during the talks.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2005)