China and the United States should explore a new type of relationship between major countries, President Xi Jinping said when meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon, who is on a three-day visit to China to prepare for a summit between Xi and U.S. President Barack Obama.

President Xi Jinping meets US National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. [Photo: Xinhua]

The Xi-Obama summit, the first face-to-face meeting between the Chinese and U.S. presidents since both nations carried out their most recent leadership transitions, is scheduled for June 7 and 8 in Rancho Mirage, California.

For the upcoming summit, Xi said he and Obama will broadly and deeply discuss "important strategic issues of common concern" so as to deepen understanding, enhance mutual trust, accumulate consensus and promote cooperation.

"The current China-U.S. relationship is at a critical juncture," Xi said, adding that both sides must now "build on past successes and open up new dimensions for the future".

Donilon said the Obama-Xi summit will be an important opportunity for the two countries to discuss bilateral relations and regional and global issues facing both countries.

Obama is "firmly committed to building a relationship defined by higher levels of practical cooperation and greater levels of trust, while managing whatever differences and disagreements might arise between us," according to Donilon.

Xi will stop in California after formal visits to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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