China, US start annual dialogue on bilateral ties

The fifth round of S&ED now stands at a new starting point as the two nations have both entered a new era of development and come together to explore a new type of relations between major countries, Yang said.

China and the United States have been holding the annual S&ED talks since 2009 when Obama came to power, as a major channel of communication to enhance mutual trust, boost cooperation and properly handle differences.

The S&ED is critical to generating practical cooperation on issues across the bilateral relationship and a place where the two nations can make real progress, Lew said at the event.

"We meet at a time when the citizens in both of our countries are looking to their policy makers to advance policies that lead to greater prosperity, equity, and opportunity," he said.

Highlighting that the first S&ED was a "landmark event," Kerry said "with each passing year, we've been able to build on this dialogue."

The two sides have made the S&ED the key mechanism for managing cooperation and competition between the two countries. "Our agenda is broad and it cuts across strategic and economic tracks. And as an outgrowth of the S&ED, we've added the strategic security dialogue in 2011 and new working groups on cyber issues and on climate change this year," Kerry said.

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

Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of China's economic planner National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters after the opening session that a working group on climate change, which was initiated after the visit of Kerry to China in April, has identified five priority areas including promoting smart grids to step up bilateral cooperation.

Some US experts regard this dialogue, the first cabinet-level talks since the government reshuffles in both countries early this year, as a good chance for senior Chinese and US officials to get to know each other and set up working relationship.

The full slate of issues up for discussion will have multilateral impact and the entire global community is vested in their outcome, said Kenneth Lieberthal, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.