Beijing, China - PRESIDENT XI: (Via interpreter) Mr. Secretary, a warm welcome to China. We really have a very crowded schedule here and you are just here for one day. And I know before coming here, you visited a couple of Southeast Asian countries. We welcome you to China.
Generally speaking, the China-U.S. relationship has been smooth and on the way up in the past year. Often I think back to the visit I made last year to the United States. In my view, it was a very successful visit. And I had a very good meeting with President Obama at the Paris climate change conference, and he and I have spoken to each other on the phone a couple of times where we had timely exchanges on issues of mutual interest. And the various institutions and mechanisms between our two countries have been operating smoothly. I know you’ve had good working relationships with State Councilor Yang and Foreign Minister Wang.
And our two countries have also made progress in cooperation on various fronts – on the economy and trade, on people-to-people and cultural exchange, on security issues, and on the cyber-security issue. And in the meantime, our two countries have been in timely communication on international and regional issues, such as the Iranian nuclear issue, the Korean nuclear issue, Afghanistan, and so on. And I’m satisfied with the development of our relationship.
Generally speaking, when China and the United States work together, we can make good things happen with win-win results for both sides and that contribute to peace, prosperity, and stability in the world. The Chinese side is prepared to work with the U.S. side, and I’m prepared to work with President Obama to make efforts to advance the new model of major country relationship between China and the United States based on no conflict or confrontation, win-win cooperation, and mutual respect.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Mr. President, thank you very much. Thank you, first of all, for this meeting and for the very productive and in-depth conversations I had earlier. Your foreign policy team and state councilor have done an excellent job of helping us to make some progress today.
And on behalf of President Obama, I want to thank you for the help that China gave to the effort on the Iran nuclear agreement. China played a critical role. The effort on climate change was really historic, and you made a key decision with President Obama to change that whole debate.