Beijing, Aug.19 (ANI): United States Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao took pains on Friday to highlight the need for improving bilateral ties, describing the current weaknesses in the relationship as a passing phase rather than a sign of decline.
Meeting in Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership's compound in central Beijing, Wen praised Biden for sending a clear message that the United States would ensure that China's vast holdings of U.S. Treasury notes were safe.
"In spite of the difficulties facing the United States economy at present, I have full confidence that the United States will overcome these difficulties and get its economy back on the track of healthy growth," he said.
"The prosperity and stability of the United States is in the interest of the whole world," the New York Times quoted him, as saying further.
Biden, on the other hand, assured Jiabao that "no one has ever won betting against the U. S. economy," and then added, referring to China's Treasury holdings, "I want to be clear that you have nothing to worry about."
The Chinese have made Washington's rising debt and concerns about its economic strength a central topic in Biden's private discussions here, and Biden has repeatedly offered a rosy prognosis for the economy in public.
News reports in advance of his four-day visit stressed the growing concern among ordinary Chinese citizens that China's holdings in Treasury notes, worth at least 1.1 trillion dollars, would lose their value should the United States be unable to resolve its fiscal problems.
Biden also held talks with Vice President Xi Jinping, the presumed successor to President Hu Jintao, and Wu Bangguo, head of China's National People's Congress. His meeting Friday with Jiabao was followed by a session with Mr. Hu.
Earlier Friday, in a second day of meetings with Biden, Xi forecast further strong growth for the Chinese economy and endorsed the long-term prospects of the U.S. economy, saying it was "highly resilient and has a high capacity for self-repair."
Xi also called for new measures to restore confidence in global financial markets, which he said were "undergoing drastic fluctuations" and faced destabilizing forces. As the vice president spoke, Chinese stock indices dropped for the fifth straight week, reflecting growing worries that the United States and other major Western economies are slipping back into recession.
In their remarks Friday morning, the two vice presidents said that stronger business relations between their countries were not only good for their economies, but also helped deepen diplomatic ties. But they also pointed to burrs in the relationships, with Xi urging the United States to lift restrictions on exports of advanced technology and to remove what he said were barriers to Chinese acquisitions of American businesses. (ANI)
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