In the afternoon of March 30, 2015, Premier Li Keqiang met with US President’s Special Representative and Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew at the Great Hall of the People.

Li Keqiang said that a sound China-US relationship accords with the interests of both countries and conduces to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit to the US upon invitation this September will strongly promote the development of the China-US relations. In the next stage, the two sides should jointly successfully hold the new round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), the High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange and other institutional activities, so as to enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation and conduct closer communication and coordination on major international and regional issues. In the meanwhile, based on the principles of mutual respect and seeking common ground while reserving differences, the two sides should constructively manage and control differences to promote the new model of major-country relationship between China and the US to move ahead along the right path.

Li Keqing pointed out that as the largest developing and developed countries respectively in the world, China and the US are highly complementary in their economies and share broad prospect for cooperation. The upcoming negotiations on the negative list in China-US bilateral investment agreement will be the focal point in the recent work of both sides. The Chinese government will lay emphasis on further opening up the service and general manufacturing industries by slashing the number of foreign investment limits by half. China will open its door even wider, and the market will be even more open, transparent and predictable so that investors of all kinds can enjoy a better investment environment in China.

Li Keqiang emphasized that China and the US should jointly advance liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment. He expressed the hope that the US can relax limits on exports of high technology to China, solve problems faced by China-funded enterprises in the process of investing in the US, approve the reform plan of quotas and governance structure of the International Monetary Fund as soon as possible and support the adoption of the RMB in the basket of special drawing rights.

Jacob Lew said that China’s growth, prosperity and deep involvement in the international system conforms to the interests of the US. The US expects President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to the US within this year, and is willing to work with China to successfully conduct activities such as the S&ED, enhance dialogues, strengthen cooperation within the global economic framework and boost communication and coordination in regional and international affairs. The US expects progress in the negotiations on bilateral investment agreement. The US welcomes China playing a bigger role in Asia’s infrastructure construction and is willing to enhance related cooperation in bilateral and multilateral areas.

Both sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.