U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who made an official visit to China last month, has said that he remains convinced that a successful China can make the United States more prosperous.
"I remain convinced that a successful China can make our country more prosperous, not less," the vice president wrote in The New York Times on Thursday. "As trade and investment bind us together, we have a stake in each other's success."
He noted that the United States and China share "common challenges and responsibilities" on issues from global security to global economic growth and have incentives to work together.
"That is why our administration has worked to put our relationship on a stable footing," he wrote.
"We often focus on Chinese exports to America, but last year American companies exported more than 100 billion dollars worth of goods and services to China, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs here," he noted in his article entitled "China's Rise Isn't Our Demise," trying to assuage concern that Chinese exports are making Americans lose their jobs.
"In fact, our exports to China have been growing much faster than our exports to the rest of the world," Biden added.
During his six-day visit to China on Aug. 17-22, Biden met with Chinese leaders on bilateral, regional and global issues.
He noted that the two countries also compete as they cooperate, adding that he strongly believes that his country "can and will flourish from this competition."
"First, we need to keep China's rising economic power in perspective," he stressed.
He wrote that according to the International Monetary Fund, America's gross domestic product, almost 15 trillion dollars, is still more than twice as large as China's, while America's per-capita GDP -- above 47,000 dollars -- is 11 times China's.
"And while there is a lot of talk about China's 'owning' America's debt, the truth is that Americans own America's debt," he wrote on another concern of some Americans.
He noted that China holds just 8 percent of outstanding U.S. Treasury securities while Americans hold nearly 70 percent. "Our unshakable commitment to honoring our financial obligations is for the sake of Americans, as well as for those overseas. It is why the United States has never defaulted on its obligations and never will," he wrote.