Xi meets Henry Kissinger, discusses China-U.S. ties

BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Beijing Friday, saying China will work closely with the United States at a new starting point to maintain the smooth transition of ties and stable growth.

Xi appreciated Kissinger's contribution to China-U.S. relations over the past years, saying the sustained, healthy and stable growth of China-U.S. ties meets the fundamental interests of the two peoples and has helped with peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

U. S. President-elect Donald Trump paid a visit to the 93-year-old strategist after he won the election.

Kissinger told Xi that he believes it is the expectation of the U.S. new administration to facilitate sustained, stable and better growth of U.S.-China relations.

"The development history of China-U.S. ties since the forging of diplomatic ties has proven our common interests far outweigh the differences," Xi said.

In their over one-hour-and-a-half meeting, Xi said the two countries should properly handle their different views and divergences in a constructive manner.

He stressed that China and the United States should have a correct understanding of each other's strategic intentions, abandon the zero-sum mentality, stick to non-confrontation and non-conflict, respect each other and carry out mutually beneficial cooperation, to boost the building of a new type of major country relationship between China and the United States.

Xi called on both countries to maintain close high-level exchanges, maintain stable development of win-win economic and trade ties, expand substantial cooperation in various areas and strengthen coordination on major global and regional issues.

Kissinger, a regular visitor to China, said he hopes to continue efforts in boosting understanding and cooperation between the two countries.

As a trailblazer for China-U.S. ties, Kissinger paid a secret visit to China in 1971 which paved way for the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic ties in 1979.