Honorable Secretary Clinton,
Honorable Secretary Geithner,
Honorable Vice Premier Wang Qishan,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

Today, we are launching the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogues, a mechanism established by President Hu Jintao and President Obama during their April meeting in London. This is a great event that should be celebrated in our bilateral relations. Perhaps the whole world is watching us. The congratulatory message from President Hu Jintao and the important address President Obama is going to give in a moment underscore the important and special significance of the dialogues.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan and I come from an Oriental civilization, that is at once distant and near for you, a land that has produced many great men, including Confucius, Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, and the home of the Four Great Inventions of the mankind. We come from a country, whose 1.3 billion people concentrate on achieving development and a harmonious society that lives in harmony and shares prosperity with other countries, one which has made enormous progress in human rights in a few short decades. What have we come here to do? We are here to have candid, in-depth and forward-looking dialogue with you on overarching and strategic issues important to China-US relations and human security, peace and development and to figure out ways to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-US relationship for the fast-changing 21st century, and we will do so in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. We are here to deepen mutual understanding and trust, expand common ground and advance cooperation. Together, we can broaden the shared interests of China and the United States for the benefit of our people and the planet, our common home.

Now, can China and the United States build a solid basis for a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship in the 21st century? In my 68 years, I have done some thinking on the vicissitudes of our world, and I am an optimist about the future of China-US relations, for two reasons.

First, we are only nine years into the 21st century, but we have already seen how different this century is from the last. Today, China, the United States and other countries all live in a shrinking "global village", and we face a growing number of increasingly severe global challenges, which no country can tackle on its own. We are in the same boat, one buffeted by surging tides and high winds. Our interests and destinies are tied. There is no other choice except to follow the trend of the times, live in harmony, pursue win-win cooperation and cross the river peacefully together.

Second, China-US relations have grown enormously in the last 30 years thanks to our joint efforts. Our two countries are different in many ways. The United States will never become China and China will never become the United States. But the reality is our two countries have never communicated and interacted with each other so often, our interests have never intersected so closely, our mutually beneficial cooperation has never been so broad and the forces driving our relationship have never been so strong. So our two great nations and great peoples have every reason to seize the historic opportunity to deepen strategic trust, expand cooperation and properly handle our differences and sensitivities. This way, we can jointly create an even better future for China-US relations.

As the saying goes, "A good beginning is half done." In the last several years, I worked closely with Deputy Secretaries Zoellick and Negroponte in our productive strategic dialogue. Now, it is my distinct pleasure to work with Vice Premier Wang, Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner to advance China-US relations. It is a great privilege to co-chair the new Strategic Dialogue with Secretary Clinton. We will live up to your expectations and our responsibilities to get the dialogue off to a good start.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

I believe that we are part of the efforts to make history, where countries of different social systems, ideologies, cultural traditions and development stages come together to meet challenges. We are part of the efforts to build a new type of relationship between two major countries, a relationship rooted in mutual respect, harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation in an age of globalization. Can we make it happen? If we do our best, then "Yes, we can!"

Thank you.