Xi recognizes Kissinger as 'trailblazer'   

习近平会见美国前国务卿基辛格

国家主席习近平17日在人民大会堂会见美国前国务卿基辛格。习近平称赞基辛格是中美关系的开拓者和见证者，赞赏他数十年来为推动中美关系发展作出的重要贡献。习近平指出，中美关系正取得重要和积极进展。去年11月，我与奥巴马总统在北京成功会晤，不久前我们再次通话，就中美关系发展作出了规划。构建中美新型大国关系不仅符合两国人民根本利益，也有利于亚太地区乃至世界和平、稳定和繁荣。中方高度重视中美关系，愿与美方一道努力，精心呵护两国关系，落实好双方达成的共识，加强高层及各层级交往，深化各领域务实合作，推动两国关系不断发展。我期待着年内对美国进行国事访问。[查看全文]

President meets former top US diplomat in Beijing, conveys message of positive intent

Six months before his first state visit to the United States, President Xi Jinping sent a message about China's willingness to strengthen cooperation and dispel misunderstandings when he met on Tuesday with a key figure who helped establish formal Sino-US relations in the 1970s.

Xi told former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in Beijing that both sides should manage differences and sensitive issues in a constructive manner and grasp the important opportunity to enhance the relationship.

Hailing Kissinger as the "trailblazer of this relationship", Xi said China needs a peaceful environment for development and would like to work with the US to protect the relationship and implement the consensus reached before.

Kissinger said both sides share concerns about global peace, progress and development. The creation of a new model of a major-country relationship shows vision and is in the interest of both, he said.

In 1972, Kissinger, US President Richard Nixon's national security adviser at the time, accompanied Nixon on his ice-breaking China visit. That trip ended 25 years of mutual silence and paved the way for the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between China and the US in 1979.

Over four decades, Kissinger has been a key envoy working to strengthen the sometimes troubled relationship. Xi last met with him in April 2013.

Xi said he looked forward to visiting the US this year, repeating remarks he made a day earlier when he greeted visiting Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust.

Beijing and Washington announced in February that Xi would pay his first state visit to the US in September. Some friction has emerged recently, particularly with US President Barack Obama's sharp criticism of China's plans for new rules on US technology companies.

Fu Mengzi, vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Xi's meeting with Kissinger sends a message that China hopes differences over specific issues do not undermine the overall relationship.

Frictions are inevitable when the two countries move closer, Fu said, and Beijing wants to make its stances clear through various channels, including the meeting with Kissinger, who enjoys influence in Washington.

Kissinger's visit coincided with Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli's meeting with former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Beijing on Tuesday.

The two countries have strengthened cooperation in various areas such as politics, trade and environmental protection in recent years. Such work has laid a good foundation for building a stronger relationship between the two big powers, Zhang said.