US President Barack Obama Monday called on the United States and China to conduct more cooperation in a variety of fields to promote mutual interests.

US President Barack Obama (C) delivers a speech while Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (2nd L), State Councilor Dai Bingguo (1st L), US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd R) and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (1st R) listen during the opening ceremony of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Washington, the United States, July 27, 2009. The China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), the first of its kind between the world's biggest developing country and biggest developed country, opened here on Monday. [Zhang Yan/Xinhua]

The two countries should further cooperate in economic recovery, clean energy, nonproliferation and transnational threats, he said at the opening session of the first round of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED).

"This is an essential step forward" in advancing a positive and comprehensive relationship between the two countries, Obama said.

He said he and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao are committed to "a sustained dialogue to enhance our shared interests."

"The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world," Obama said. "That reality must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility we bear."

He called on both countries to deepen cooperation in a variety of fields.

"If we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit, and the world will be better off, because our ability to partner with each other is a prerequisite for progress on many of the most pressing global challenges," he said.

US President Barack Obama addresses the opening ceremony of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, on July 27, 2009. [Zhang Yan/Xinhua]

The president said both countries can cooperate to advance mutual interests in the economic recovery, adding the two could promote financial stability through greater transparency and regulatory reform, pursue free and fair trade, seek to conclude an ambitious and balanced Doha Round agreement, and update international institutions so that growing economies like China can play a greater role that matches their greater responsibility.

As climate change and clean energy high on the agenda of the S&ED, Obama urged deepened cooperation from the two countries to advance mutual interests in a clean, secure and prosperous energy future.

He also called on both sides to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, adding bilateral collaboration must be continued to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

On transnational threats posed by extremists, traffickers, disease and civil wars, Obama underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation to advance mutual interests, adding the pursuit of power among nations must "no longer be seen as a zero-sum game."

He stressed that no nation can meet the challenges of the 21st century on its own.

"I have no illusions that the United States and China will agree on every issue, nor choose to see the world in the same way," the president said. "That only makes US-China dialogue more important, so that we can know each other better, and communicate our concerns with candor."

Obama said he took a different view from those who think America will contain China's ambitions or those who fear for a rising China.

"I believe in a future where China is a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations; a future when our nations are partners out of necessity, but also out of opportunity," he told the audience.

"This dialogue represents a commitment to shape our young century through sustained cooperation, not confrontation," Obama said, adding he looked forward to "carrying this effort forward through my first visit to China."

The first round of the S&ED, the first of its kind between the world's biggest developing and developed countries, was jointly fixed by Hu and Obama during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London on April 1.

The new mechanism is a reincarnation of a biannual Strategic Economic Dialogue set up by the two countries in 2006 and a Strategic Dialogue in 2005.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan will co-chair the "Economic Track" of the dialogue with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, while Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo will co-chair the "Strategic Track" with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The "Economic Track" and the "Strategic Track" will hold respective close-door dialogues in the following two days.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2009)