Chinese President Xi Jinping met with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in Beijing on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with former U.S. President Bill Clinton at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 18, 2013. [Liu Weibing/Xinhua]

Xi applauded Clinton's efforts to promote bilateral ties during his tenure and his cooperation with China after his retirement in efforts related to poverty reduction, charity, health and epidemic prevention, particularly in the area of HIV-AIDS.

Despite ups and downs, China-U.S. relations have generally moved toward the right direction and yielded fruitful results, Xi said. "With the joint efforts of generations of Chinese and U.S. leaders, our relationship has become a skyscraper. We need to work together to do more to help the relationship."

"President Barack Obama and I have reached an important consensus on building a new type of relationship between major countries, which is a strategic decision in the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples," Xi said.

He said the two sides are enhancing cooperation in politics, trade, ecology and people-to-people and cultural exchanges and will work together to cope with challenges regarding climate change and energy security.

As long as both sides adhere to the principles of establishing a new type of relationship between major countries, respect each other and achieve win-win cooperation, bilateral ties will have broader prospects, Xi noted.

The development of bilateral ties requires the support and participation of people from all walks of life in the two countries, Xi said, expressing hope that Clinton and the Clinton Foundation will make contributions and lead more people to devote themselves to bilateral cooperation.

Clinton said he cherished the bilateral ties, which feature sincerity, mutual trust and constructive cooperation. He expressed congratulations on the success of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and voiced support for China's comprehensive and deepening reform.

The U.S. and China should strengthen cooperation and tackle global challenges together, Clinton said, adding that he and his foundation are willing to promote bilateral cooperation in health, new energy, ecology and environment, climate change as well as cooperation in Africa.

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