Former Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said on Tuesday that China and the United States should be close partners.

China and the United States have a common responsibility for maintaining world peace, international stability and encouraging the common development, said Li, now chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, the county's top legislature.

"The development of the Sino-U.S. relationship has not only served the common interests of our two peoples, but also served the comprehensive cause of the entire mankind," He said in a speech at the Nixon Center, a think tank in Washington D.C.

Li, who served as China's foreign minister from 2003 to 2007, said he was optimistic about the future relations between China and the United States.

He mentioned a new English word of "Chinamerica," which combines both China and America, saying it "described pretty precisely and vividly the relationship between the two countries."

"I am fully confident that our relationship has a good future, simply because our two countries, our two peoples have a lot of common interests," said the Chinese veteran diplomat.

Li, together with a delegation of China's congress, arrived in the U.S. Saturday to strengthen the communication with the U.S. Senate and House.

Source: Xinhua