Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in Paris, France, Nov. 30, 2015. (Photo by Huang Jingwen/Xinhua)
China and the United States pledged to manage differences and sensitive issues in a constructive manner on Monday, in addition to commitment to a climate change agreement at the international talks in Paris. [Special coverage]
Observers said the world's two largest economies are setting maintenance of a sustainable relationship as the bottom line when their core interests conflict.
President Xi Jinping, speaking during a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the two-week UN climate conference in Paris, said that mounting global concerns have made relations between China and the U.S. more important, and that the steady growth of the relations is important.
"Since my visit (to the U.S.), our two teams have been working very hard to make new progress in China-U.S. relations.
"It's important to manage our differences and sensitive issues in a constructive way toward a sustained, healthy and steady growth of our relations," he said.
Obama acknowledged the established communication channels between the two countries and called for close cooperation on promoting the global economy and managing conflicts and hot spots around the world.
The U.S. and China have developed a "candid way of discussing these issues", he said.
Obama said that nowhere had the coordination with Beijing been more important or fruitful than on climate change. He credited the U.S. and China with leading 180 nations to make their own pledges to curb emissions in the runup to the Paris talks.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of U.S. studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said China has always insisted on controlling disputes "in a constructive fashion".
He said it becomes more important when differences on the South China Sea, U.S. arm sales to Taiwan and cybersecurity escalate at the same time.
