Excellencies,

Friends from academic and business communities and the media,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure to be invited to the Lanting Forum and have an exchange with you on China-U.S. relations in the new era.

In a few days' time, President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to the United States at the invitation of President Barack Obama. The two sides are now making final preparations for the visit. The year 2011 marks the beginning of China's 12th Five-Year Plan period. President Hu's visit to the United States will kick off China's diplomatic agenda for the whole year.

At this point in time, friends familiar with the history of

China-U.S. relations will come to realize that this year also marks the 40th anniversary of the famous "ping-pong diplomacy." You may also recall Deng Xiaoping's historic visit to the United States in January 1979, less than a month after China and the United States established diplomatic ties and at a critical juncture when China had just made the decision to introduce the reform and opening-up policy. You may further recall former President Jiang Zemin's state visit to the United States in 1997, which took a sound China-U.S. relationship into the 21st century. As you may know, President Hu's upcoming visit will be his second visit to the United States as China's head of state. Naturally you may be interested in what impact his visit will have on China-U.S. relations.

On the second day of this year, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi left for the United States to discuss China-U.S. relations and especially President Hu's forthcoming visit. When President Obama met with Minister Yang at the White House, he noted that President Hu's visit to the United States at the start of the second decade of the 21st century has both good timing and great significance and that he is looking forward to the visit. My Chinese and American colleagues at the meeting and I myself all had the same expectations that President Hu's visit will open a new chapter in the win-win cooperation between China and the United States and bring new hope and opportunities to the people of our two countries.

Having said that, we are also aware of certain doubts in the minds of some people on both sides and even in some other countries. When President Obama visited China in November 2009, the world was riveted by our two countries' renewed commitment to building a positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-U.S. relationship for the 21st century. But in the year that followed, it seemed that what caught people's eyes was, more often than not, the "bad news" in our bilateral ties. This gives rise to the question: Can the ship of China-U.S. relations stay on the course of cooperation and sail through the storms toward a brighter future?

To this question, our answer should be an unequivocal and emphatic "yes." China and the United States have no other alternative but cooperation. Closer cooperation will be win-win for both countries and the world at large. Closer cooperation should become the theme of our relations in the new era. I am saying this because of the following:

First, the historical trend of China-U.S. cooperation is irreversible.

A review of our diplomatic relations over the past 30 years and more shows that:

China and the United States have increasingly closer exchanges and our relationship is striking a more positive tone. Politically, we are no longer antagonistic towards each other. On the contrary, we are vigorously pursuing strategic cooperation. Economically, we are no longer cut off from each other. Rather, we have become each other's second largest trading partner. On the military front, we are no longer adversaries on the battlefield. Instead, the two militaries are now engaged in practical exchanges in many fields. The recent successful visit to China by Secretary Gates gave a boost to the military-to-military relationship between the two countries.

China and the United States share a growing desire to move beyond our differences and learn from each other. The two sides have signed dozens of cooperation agreements in political, economic, trade, agriculture, scientific, technological and many other fields. Every year, hundreds of official delegations at various levels are sent to each other's countries for mutual visits. Every year, some 100,000 Chinese and American students go to study in each other's countries, showing a clearer pattern of two-way traffic. The United States is steadily implementing its initiative to send 100,000 students to China in four years. China also plans to send 10,000 students to study in the United States as PhD candidates on government scholarships in the coming four years.

China and the United States enjoy expanding channels of exchanges and cooperation. Over 60 cooperation mechanisms have been put in place involving various government departments, legislatures and political party leaderships. The thriving local and people-to-people exchanges lend increasing impetus to our bilateral relations. There are now 36 pairs of sister provinces and states and 161 pairs of sister cities between China and the United States. It is a fashion for Chinese tourists to visit the United States and vice versa. Over 3 million tourists travel between the two countries every year.

Second, the pace of China-U.S. cooperation is unstoppable.

China-U.S. relations had a swift, smooth transition after President Obama took office, something unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. Over the past two years, our two presidents have had seven meetings, and our heads of government and speakers of parliament have had successful meetings or mutual visits. In sum, high-level bilateral exchanges are more intensive, wide-ranging and in-depth than any time in history.

Building on the Strategic Dialogue and the Strategic Economic Dialogue we had, our two countries have established a higher-level mechanism, namely the Strategic and Economic Dialogues, which has held two successful meetings. Chaired by the Special Representatives of our two presidents, the in-depth dialogues brought together over 40 heads of departments from our two governments, who gathered to discuss a broad range of issues in our bilateral relations as well as regional and global affairs. Dialogue of this kind is unprecedented in the history of China-U.S. relations and is seldom seen between any other two countries of the world. The size of our bilateral economic cooperation and trade has far exceeded the pre-crisis level. Our trade in 2010 is likely to top $380 billion well on a steady course toward $400 billion. Our exchanges and cooperation in a host of other areas are also advancing and expanding with a positive momentum.

Third, China-U.S. cooperation and the rejuvenation of the Asia-Pacific region are complementary to each other.

You all know about two interconnected, major events in the world in the late 1970s: the start of reform and opening-up in China and the normalization of China-U.S. relations. In the subsequent three decades and more, the entire Asia-Pacific region has seen general stability and rapid development.