China and the United States are witnessing growing bilateral ties, which are expected to be further boosted by China's determination to build a harmonious society at home and promote the establishment of a harmonious community in the world.

Bilateral relations will also benefit from the scheduled meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart George W. Bush in Washington next month.

This state visit will be the first one to the United States by Hu Jintao as Chinese president after his inauguration in 2003.

In recent years, China and the United States carried out broad cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, anti-terrorism, non-proliferation and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular, the Iranian nuclear issue, United Nations reform and prevention of bird flu.

Such cooperation and coordination between the two UN Security Council permanent members is fruitful and has had a positive impact on the international community.

Hu and Bush last November pledged to promote the all-round development of constructive and cooperative Sino-US relations during their talks in Beijing.

However, due to their different social systems, economic development levels and culture, there are still differences between China and the US - one is the largest developing country and the other is the largest developed country.

Although increasing trade has sparked disputes, the two sides are trying their best to solve some problems through consultations.

Since early March this year, several US government officials including US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez have conferred with their Chinese counterparts on the issues concerning the protection of intellectual property rights, exchange rates of Chinese currency Renminbi and US deficit in trade with China during their visit to China.

The Chinese side has fully expounded its stand on these issues and earnestly taken measures to deal with concerns from the US side.

In fact, the soaring Sino-US trade has helped the two countries' economic progress and brought about tangible benefits for the two peoples.

China-US trade hit US$212 billion last year, up 24.8 percent over the previous year. China has become the largest importer of US soybean and cotton. The Chinese market recorded the fastest growth for US exports.

Some 4 million to 8 million US jobs are directly or indirectly produced by China-US trade.

In his New Year speech for 2006, Hu Jintao vowed that the development of China is occurring in a peaceful, open, cooperative and harmonious manner. China will seek a peaceful international environment for its development and then contribute to world peace.

All of those will help promote the development of Sino-US relations, according to local analysts.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2006)