China has expressed appreciation over the "positive remarks" made by U.S. President Barack Obama and other officials on Sino-U.S. relations.

China valued the reaffirmation by the U.S. side on its commitment to China on the Taiwan and Tibet-related issues, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a press release Tuesday.

U.S. President Obama said on Tuesday Beijing time that the United States was devoted to working with China to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive U.S.-China relationship for the 21st century.

The U.S. would take concrete actions to steadily establish a partnership with China to deal with common challenges, said Obama when presented with the credentials from the new Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Zhang Yesui.

Also on Tuesday Beijing time, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told a news briefing in Washington that the U.S. position on the one-China policy remained unchanged.

"It (the one-China policy) serves us very well. We have consistently through Democratic and Republican administrations understood those agreements and principles be the foundation of building an ever stronger relationship (with China)," Steinberg said.

Steinberg also reaffirmed that the United States considered Tibet to be a part of China and did not support "Tibet independence."

In Tuesday's press release, Qin said that Sino-U.S. relations had developed positively since the Obama administration took office.

However, bilateral ties underwent undue stress caused by the announcement of new U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in January and President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama in February, which Qin said was not in the common interest of both countries.

"China and the United States are both countries with important influence in the world," he said. "A sound China-U.S. relationship is in the basic interests of the two peoples and is conducive to the peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the world."

He reiterated that the Chinese government always attached great importance to relations with the U.S. and was committed to developing long-term, healthy and stable Sino-U.S. relations.

At the end of the press release, he again called on both sides to implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries and follow the principle and spirits of the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques and the Sino-U.S. joint declaration.

"China hopes to work with the U.S. to strengthen dialogue, communication and cooperation and handle sensitive issues appropriately, so as to make joint efforts to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive Sino-U.S. relationship for the 21st century," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2010)