CRI听力:China, U.S. Eyeing for Long-term Relationship

With the first round of China-U.S. social and people-to-people dialogue being held on Thursday in Washington D.C., local scholars have said say they have been impressed by China's big leap in scientific research and development, and are looking forward to further expanding bilateral cooperation.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong said the first round of China-U.S. social and people-to-people dialogue aims to envision the China-U.S. relationship in the next 50 years.

"The theme of this dialogue is live together for the next 50 years on mutual understanding. We'll focus on how the two countries can strengthen bilateral cooperation to benefit not only our two countries but the world as a whole."

She recalled that the first bilateral cooperation agreement reached by the two countries was the China-U.S. Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology signed shortly after the two countries re-established diplomatic ties in 1979. Since then, bilateral cultural exchanges and cooperation have been extended to all levels.

Darrell West, the founding director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institute, says he is looking forward to further expanding the cooperation with his Chinese counterparts.

"China has made really amazing progress on mobile payments. They're the world leader in that area. I know they're investing heavily in artificial intelligence as well. So we try to keep up with all the new developments in China."

Education is another area that has witnessed a tremendous increase of bilateral exchanges. There are around 300,000 Chinese students in the U.S. and over one hundred thousand US students also came to China under the Obama administration. Clayton Daniel Mote, President of US National Academy of Engineering, says such a momentum should be continued.

"I don't expect any turndown in this direction at all. I believe culture is everything. It's the foundation of everything we do. That's why I'm such a strong supporter of these cultural understandings coming through the Confucius Institute program and other programs like that."

He strongly believes that the future depends on the US-China relationship and hopes the first round of bilateral social and people-to-people dialogue will produce fruitful outcomes.

Congressman John Larson echoed the opinion and also looked forward to a long-term bilateral relationship.

"I think the history of the US-China relationship has always been measured on do you take steps forward as supposed to backwards. And Madam Liu's presence here in Washington DC is of critical importance because of the people-to-people exchanges that are very important to build the foundation for a long-term positive relationship between the two countries."

Liu Yandong is set to co-chair the China-US social and people-to-people dialogue, along with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

It is one of the four high-level dialogues established during a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in April.