Full Text: Premier Li Keqiang Meets the Press(10)

China must manage its own affairs well and maintain development at a reasonable speed. That in itself is China's major contribution to the world. Actually, China is assuming greater due international obligations and responsibilities. Talking about free-riding, for such a big country as ours, how could it get a free ride on anybody's train? What China is doing is to work with other countries to pursue common progress.

Development will remain the top priority for China and we need a peaceful international environment for us to focus on domestic development. When it comes to the China-US relationship, this is a relationship between the largest developing country and largest developed country in the world. We have proposed that China and the United States work together to build a new model of major country relations featuring no-conflict, no-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation. This year, President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States at the invitation of his US counterpart. It will give a strong boost to China-US ties.

Admittedly, there are differences between China and the United States, but what's more important is that the two countries share extensive common interests. When differences are properly handled, the two sides can channel more energy into expanding the convergence of their interests. One highlight in the China-US relationship is that the two sides are advancing negotiations of a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), and the BIT is built around the pre-establishment national treatment and a negative list. This is to break the ceiling on China-US business cooperation and will open up new dimensions for the growth of China-US ties. Naturally the negotiation will take time, but it has already sent a very clear message to both countries and the wider international community that China-US business ties will get even closer and put the overall China-US relationship on a more solid footing.