The fourth China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue is underway in Beijing. Chinese President, Hu Jintao, gave the opening address, noting that both countries need to strengthen cooperation based on mutual trust and respect.

Representatives at the high level talks are hoping to find common ground, amid increasing disputes between China and U.S..

In his opening speech, President Hu Jintao stressed that while China and U.S. might not agree on all issues, they must respect each other's core interests.

Hu said, "Co-operation between China and the U.S. will bring opportunities to both countries and to the world. Confrontation will only bring harm. No matter how the world has changed, or how much both countries have changed domestically, both of us should continue our cooperative partnership, and strive to develop our international relationship, in order to put Chinese and American people at ease and maintain world peace."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the sentiment of President Hu's speech.

She referred to the increasing co-dependence between China and the U.S., with the U.S. having a strong interest in China's continued economic growth.

The two day dialogue will consist of several separate sessions, looking at two-way economic and strategic cooperation.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said the dialogue mechanism has already made great contributions to the de-politicization of economic issues.

Wang said, "This is a broad, pragmatic, and fruitful dialogue. We will exchange opinions on the core interests of both China and the U.S., and try our best to avoid politicizing economic issues. We can strengthen China-U.S. relations with mutual benefits and win-win results, and maintain the common interests of the two peoples in bilateral economic relations."

In this upcoming two-day dialogue, economic discussions will focus on trade cooperation and disputes, particularly investment protection treaties.