CHINA will continue to encourage sub-national and people-to-people exchanges with the United States, and also hopes that the United States will work with China to create favorable conditions for sub-national and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a related query about the fifth China-U.S. Sister Cities Conference recently held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

Noting sister city cooperation started when China and the United States established diplomatic ties, Wang said since 1979, the two countries have set up 284 pairs of sister provinces/states and cities, providing strong support for growing China-U.S. relations.(Xinhua)