China called on the United States to work with it in the same direction, engage in more dialogue rather than confrontation, and pursue more mutually beneficial cooperation rather than zero-sum competition, as it hosted on Thursday the first bipartisan delegation from the US Senate since US President Donald Trump took office in 2025.
The delegation, led by Steve Daines, a Republican senator from Montana, is visiting Beijing and Shanghai this week to meet with Chinese officials and tour technology companies, according to a statement released by his office.
Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, met separately with the delegation on Thursday.
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Li said that China is willing to work with the US to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen dialogue and communication, foster a favorable atmosphere for exchanges at all levels and cooperation in various fields, and strive for more practical results.
Experience has repeatedly shown that adhering to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation is the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other, Li added.
Zhao called on the US side to look at China and its development rationally and objectively, welcoming more US lawmakers to visit China.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who also met with the delegation on the same day, called on the two countries to stabilize and improve bilateral relations for the benefit of both countries and the world. “Face-to-face communication is the prerequisite for enhancing mutual understanding and the starting point for building trust,” he said.
Noting that the visit carries symbolic significance, Wang said he hopes the delegation will experience the new dynamism of China’s development, build new bridges of communication, explore new areas of cooperation, and inject fresh momentum into the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations.
“China’s policy toward the US remains consistent,” he said, emphasizing that the two countries should take mutual respect as the foundation, peaceful coexistence as the guiding principle and win-win cooperation as the goal.
“Together, we should explore the right way for the two major countries to get along and jointly contribute to world peace and stability,” Wang added.
Over the past year and more, China-US relations have experienced “twists and turns”, but overall stability has been maintained under the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, he said.
“Since President Trump assumed office, President Xi Jinping has held multiple phone calls and meetings with him, helping to calibrate the direction of bilateral relations at critical moments,” Wang said.
He noted that the key to finding the right way for China and the US to get along lies in continuously addressing misunderstandings in each other’s perceptions, just like properly buttoning a shirt.
China and the US have different social systems and development paths, but both are rooted in their respective historical and cultural traditions and chosen by their own peoples, he said.
Quoting an ancient Chinese saying that “all living things grow together without harming one another”, Wang said the two sides should seek “harmony without uniformity” and be partners rather than rivals.
China will not follow the obsolete model of a country seeking hegemony when growing stronger, he said, emphasizing that the country will remain committed to peaceful development and the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
He also expressed hope that the US will view China objectively, develop a rational understanding of the country, genuinely respect China’s core interests, properly manage differences, and work together with China to accomplish more major, practical and positive things for both countries and the world.
Members of the US delegation shared their impressions of the China visit and exchanged views on the development of US-China relations, according to the Foreign Ministry. The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.
This trip marks Daines’ seventh visit to China since he was elected to the US Congress. The senator last visited China in March 2025, becoming the first senior Republican to visit the country after Trump began his second term in office.
“In order to effectively compete with China, we need to understand China’s innovation ecosystem, which is why I am glad to be here with my colleagues,” Daines said before the trip. “With the US and China making up 40 percent of the world economy, engaging the Chinese is vital to maintaining US competitiveness globally.”
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According to Chinese analysts, Daines has long been viewed as one of the more pragmatic Republican lawmakers on China and an important channel for communication, particularly on economic and trade issues.
Diao Daming, a professor of US studies at Renmin University of China’s School of International Studies, said, “If Trump comes to China as planned, Daines’ trip takes place at an important preparatory stage and could be seen as a preliminary communication to convey positions for subsequent high-level interactions.”
Diao added that the inclusion of Democratic senators in the delegation also sends a positive signal that both US political parties still see value in strengthening communication with China.
Contact the writers at mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn