China and the United States do not necessarily have to head toward a confrontation, President Xi Jinping told visiting American senators, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
Xi's statement was the strongest indication yet that he might attend the APEC summit in San Francisco next month. I Photo: The White House
It was the strongest indication yet that he might attend the APEC summit in San Francisco next month, raising hopes for a meeting with U.S. counterpart Joe Biden.
"The Thucydides Trap is not inevitable," Xi told the bipartisan delegation headed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, referring to the concept of confrontation between a rising and a dominant power.
"How China and the United States get along with each other in the face of a world of change and turmoil will determine the future and destiny of mankind," Xi said during his meeting with Schumer at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, as reported by Peter Caterall for Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"I have said many times, including to several presidents, that we have 1,000 reasons to improve China-U.S. relations, but not one reason to ruin them," Xi added, emphasizing that China-U.S. ties are "the most important bilateral relationship in the world."
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