On the evening of March 18, 2013, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi held telephone talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Yang said, a few days ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone talk with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, and the two heads of state confirmed that the two countries will continue building a cooperative partnership and explore possibilities of establishing a new type of big country relationship. The talk between the two leaders highlighted the direction for the development of China-U.S. relations in the new era, Yang said. China is ready to work with the United States to implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders, maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen communication, mutual trust and cooperation, and properly manage divergence and sensitive issues, so as to deliver a good start for bilateral ties in the new era and lay a solid foundation for a healthy, stable development in the future, he said.

Kerry said China-U.S. relations were important and the two countries should enhance cooperation on many issues. The United States hopes to maintain exchanges and dialogue with China to jointly cope with various challenges and he looks forward to his visit to China in April, for which Yang expressed welcome.

During their talks, Yang and Kerry agreed to make full preparations for a new round of China-U.S. strategic and economic dialogue.