CHINESE President Xi Jinping stressed Wednesday the role of people in China-U.S. relations at a welcome dinner by friendly organizations in the United States.

“The foundation of China-U.S. relations was laid by our peoples,” Xi said, stressing that “the door of China-U.S. relations was opened by our peoples,” “the stories of China-U.S. relations are written by our peoples” and “the future of China-U.S. relations will be created by our peoples.”

The Chinese president said he was convinced the door of China-U.S. relations cannot be shut again once opened, and the cause of China-U.S. friendship cannot be derailed halfway once started.

Meanwhile, Xi stressed that the United States should not see China as its primary competitor.

China is ready to be a partner and friend of the United States, the Chinese president noted. “The fundamental principles that we follow in handling China-U.S. relations are mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” he said.

“Peaceful coexistence is a basic norm for international relations, and is even more of a baseline that China and the United States should hold on to as two major countries,” Xi said.

“China never bets against the United States, and never interferes in its internal affairs. China has no intention to challenge the United States or to unseat it,” Xi added.

The Chinese president announced that China is ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in the next five years to increase exchanges between the two peoples, especially between the youth.(Xinhua)