Differences between Beijing and Washington will not keep the two countries from strengthening ties, Chinese legislators visiting America say.
The optimistic remarks were made by a delegation of National People's Congress' members who had just ended a visit to Washington and begun touring other cities, Xinhua said.
The news agency said the Chinese legislators acknowledged that while China and the United States disagreed strongly on many issues, both countries could still 'normalise and strengthen bilateral exchanges'.
'Although both sides have different views on some issues, the two sides stress the importance of expanding co-operation and narrowing differences, taking into consideration the overall perspective of Sino-US ties,' the agency said.
It said China and the US were bound to disagree because the 'national conditions' of the two countries were vastly different.
The Xinhua report said the Chinese legislators held 'friendly, frank and serious' discussions with US administration officials and American lawmakers.
