China's ties with the United States remain stable, President Xi Jinping said Sunday, as he sought to defuse tension over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea that has raised fears of confrontation between them.
"I look forward to continuing to develop this relationship with President Obama and to bring China-U.S. relations to a new height along a track of a new model of major country relationship," Xi told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the end of Kerry's two-day trip to China.
His trip has been dominated by deepening security concerns about Beijing's maritime ambitions in the South China Sea. China's rapid reclamation effort around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago has alarmed claimants such as the Philippines and Vietnam.