China and the United States should "join hands" to solve global problems, Beijing's vice foreign minister said in a report carried by state media Saturday, ahead of visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao.
Speaking at the foreign policy forum in Beijing, Cui Tiankai said the two nations should deepen ties as they "share the same demands in maintaining peace and stability" on the Korean peninsula, according to Xinhua.
No country can handle the emerging global challenges without international cooperation, the vice foreign minister said, adding that the two countries should "join hands" for the world's peace and development.
"Both China and the United States are countries of major influence on international affairs," he said, according to the report.
"The two countries have conducted effective consultation and coordination in dealing with regional conflicts, fighting against terrorism, maintaining the international nonproliferation mechanisms."
His comments were reported shortly after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an impassioned call for China to improve human rights, pledging not to shy away from tough questions when Hu arrives in Washington for talks.
Speaking in Washington Clinton said the United States sought a "positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship" with China and welcomed the Asian power's rise, dismissing calls for a Cold War-style containment policy.
But she was forthright in her call for human rights, urging China to free dissidents including Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo who is serving an 11-year prison sentence after authoring a petition for political reform.
Presidents Barack Obama and Hu will try to mend strained economic ties when they meet in Washington next week.
The agenda will include a series of trade sticking points, from Beijing's pursuit of domestic-first procurement policies to its continued suppression of the yuan, a policy Washington says floods the US with cheap imports costing local jobs.
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