Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi held telephone talks late Monday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss bilateral ties.

Yang said, a few days ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone hook-up with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, and the two heads of state vowed to jointly continue building a cooperative partnership between China and the United States.

They also called for a new type of inter-power relationship, which had charted a course for the development of China-U.S. relations in the new era, Yang said.

China was ready to work with the United States to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries, maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen communication, mutual trust and cooperation, and properly manage divergence and sensitive issues, so as to push for a good start for bilateral ties in the new era and lay a solid foundation for a healthy, stable development in the future, he said.

Kerry said China-U.S. relations were important and the two countries should enhance cooperation on many issues.

The United States hoped to maintain exchanges and dialogue with China to jointly cope with various challenges, he said, adding he looked forward to his visit to China in April.

During their talks, Yang and Kerry agreed to make full preparations for a new round of China-U.S. strategic and economic dialogue.

They also exchanged views on the situation of the Korean Peninsula, climate change and cyber security among other issues.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2013)