China and the United States underlined that each country and its people have the right to choose their own path, and agreed to hold the next round of human rights dialogue in Washington by the end of February 2010, said the Sino-U.S. joint statement issued Tuesday.

According to the statement, the Chinese and U.S. sides agreed that all countries should respect each other's choice of a development model.

"Both sides recognized that China and the United States have differences on the issue of human rights," said the statement, "Addressing these differences in the spirit of equality and mutual respect, as well as promoting and protecting human rights consistent with international human rights instruments, the two sides agreed to hold the next round of the official human rights dialogue in Washington D.C. by the end of February 2010."

The two sides agreed that promoting cooperation in the field of law and exchanges on the rule of law serves the interests and needs of the citizens and governments of both countries, and decided to convene the China-U.S. Legal Experts Dialogue at an early date.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2009)