Clinton says U.S., China cover "unparalleled" range of issues at dialogue

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday said the two-day China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue was "unprecedented" in bilateral relations, gathered most top leaders and discussed an "unparalleled" range of issues.

At a joint press conference with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Clinton said the dialogue has established "a new pattern of cooperation" between the two countries.

"What has taken place over the past two days is unprecedented in U.S.-China relations," said Clinton, adding that the two sides "spoke candidly about some of the world's most difficult challenges," as well as issues on which "the two sides do not always agree, such as human rights."

"The meetings we have just concluded represent the largest gathering ever of top leaders from our two countries. The range of issues covered was unparalleled," said Clinton.

"The result is that we have laid the foundation for a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship for the 21st century," she added.

Clinton also said that all the efforts being done were on behalf of the next generations.

"As we began talking, we realized that all that we were doing was really on behalf of our children and our grandchildren," said Clinton. "Perhaps at the beginning of every government dialogue, we should all take out pictures of our children and our grandchildren and put them on the tables in front of us to be reminded of what was at stake in our high-level negotiations," she said.

The first round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue was concluded on Tuesday as four government representatives from both countries hailed its results in their closing statements here.

During the two-day dialogue, officials from China and the U.S. discussed the challenges and opportunities that both countries face in a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

The dialogue mechanism was upgraded from the former Strategic Dialogue and the biannual Strategic Economic Dialogue, which were initiated by the two heads of state in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

On April 1, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama agreed to establish the mechanism of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue during their first meeting in London on the sidelines of the G20 financial summit.