Foreign and Military Affairs

Obama expects China to play greater role

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-05 01:44

NEW YORK: The United States expects China to play a greater role on the world stage, said US President Barack Obama in a congratulatory message to the annual National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) dinner gala, held here on December 3.

This relationship has never been more important, the president said.

He said that, in his meetings with the Chinese leadership while visiting China, a framework had been established to materialize a bilateral friendship, under which the two countries would respond to economic and security challenges they were both facing.

Obama also said in the message that the NCUSCR was playing an active and important role in promoting relations between the United States and China.

Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Zhou Wenzhong, who also attended the gala, said Obama's first trip to China had resulted in the two sides reaching many important agreements on China-US relations and a host of major international and regional issues.

"We believe that such face-to-face, sincere and thorough exchanges of views between leaders and decision-makers of our two countries are of great significance," Zhou said, "It helps to enhance mutual trust and cooperation, and sustain the momentum of bilateral ties in the new era."

The ambassador said, in the new situation, "The interests of China and the US are interconnected to such a degree that one could hardly do anything without the other".

He also expressed hope that both countries would be able to "work together in seizing the opportunity and enhancing cooperation to bring about a new chapter in the China-US relationship".

During the dinner, which was chaired by NCUSCR President Stephen A. Orlins, ITT Corporation president Steven Loranger and Google Inc. global sales operations president Nikesh Arora were honored for their contributions to the China-US relationship.

Established in New York in 1966 by a broad coalition of academic, civic, religious and business leaders, the NCUSCR is one of the first institutions in the United States for contemporary China relations and research.