Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that a successful partnership between his country and the United States is “an opportunity for both countries to enable each other’s development, not an obstacle”.

China is willing to be a partner and friend of the United States,” Xinhua news agency reported today, quoting the Chinese president as saying in a message to the 2024 Annual Dinner of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. This will benefit not only the two countries, but also the world.

China-US relations are ‘among the most important bilateral relations in the world, affecting the well-being of the two peoples and the future of mankind’, Xi said.

Despite tensions between the two sides, relations between China and the United States have stabilised since a summit between the two countries’ presidents in November 2023, but there remain many areas of disagreement, particularly over what Washington says is China’s support for Russia’s defence industry.