WASHINGTON, Sept. 29-- Senior Chinese and U.S. officials wrapped up the First China-U.S. Social, People-to-People Dialogue here Thursday with substantial outcomes. The one-day dialogue, co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, is one of the four high-level talks agreed upon during the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, in April. Liu said under the new circumstances, strengthening people-to-people exchanges is vital to the sound and stable development of bilateral relations. The two sides should implement the consensus reached by the leaders, raising people-to-people exchanges and cooperation to a new level so as to lay a firm social foundation for the development of bilateral relations, she added. The first round of the China-U.S. Social and People-to-People Dialogue concluded with a joint statement and more than 130 outcomes, including an action plan. Both countries pledged to boost cultural exchanges to enhance people-to-people ties. The joint statement said both are committed to supporting the establishment of long-term communication and cooperation between their cultural organizations. China and the United States will help promote bilateral cooperation between public cultural industries, as well as exchange visits among high-level cultural groups. The statement said exchanges and cooperation at local levels are one of the most active and robust areas in China-U.S. relations, indicating that the commonalities between the two far outweigh their differences. |