2010 would be good for Sino-US relations: US Ambassador

Beijing, Mar. 2 (ANI): US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman has predicted that 2010 will prove to be a good year for Sino-US ties.

In an interview with Xinhua, Huntsman said US and China would "come together quickly" and "focus on global issues during the rest of this year".

"We've had some issues about which we've disagreed, but we have always been able to solve our problems and move on to the bigger issues," he was quoted, as saying.

Attending a function at the Renmin University of China, Huntsman said he was "very optimistic" about the US-China relationship as it had gone "constantly upward" since the two sides established diplomatic relations more than three decades ago.

He also said that he respected China's history and culture and understood that a country's political and legal systems were shaped by these two things.

Relations between China and the US have seen tensions in the recent days, highlighted by trade frictions, and more recently by the US arms sales to Taiwan, US President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Earlier last month, US President Barack Obama claimed that he would be "much tougher" with China on exchange rates and trade to ensure the price of US goods was "not artificially inflated."

The United States imposed duties on a number of Chinese imports in recent months.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said during an online chat with Internet users on Saturday that China did not want 2010 to be "an unpeaceful year" for trade and economic relations with the US, hoping that bilateral trade disputes would ease. (ANI)