China and the United States are cooperative partners who are indispensable to each other, and both countries are major forces driving global economic growth, said a senior Communist Party of China official on Friday.

Liu Jianchao, minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during a meeting in Beijing with Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council.

The meeting took place amid a series of recent gatherings of Chinese officials with foreign business executives as part of the nation's efforts to boost the confidence of foreign investors in the vast Chinese market.

Global business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Mercedes-Benz Group AG Chairman of the Board of Management Ola Kaellenius, and Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla, are in China for the China Development Forum to be held in Beijing this weekend.

Their meetings with Chinese officials, including Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Director of the National Development and Reform Commission Zheng Shanjie, have made media headlines.

During Friday's meeting with Allen, Liu highlighted the crucial role of the business community in promoting healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations.

He also emphasized the importance of both countries in implementing the consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden during their meeting in San Francisco in November.

While expressing his appreciation for the US-China Business Council's advocacy for cooperation with China, Liu expressed his hope that the council will contribute to promoting an objective and rational understanding of China among people from various sectors in the US, so that both sides could foster mutual understanding and trust and advance practical cooperation in various fields.

Allen said that the successful meeting between the two heads of state in San Francisco sent positive messages of both countries strengthening cooperation and promoting stable bilateral relations.

The US-China Business Council is willing to play its part in actively promoting enhanced communication and collaboration between the two countries, he said.