Chinese president confers with US secretary of state

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday, pledging China’s commitment to a new model of China-US relationship.“China is firmly committed to building a new model of China-US relationship together with the US side, and will continue to enhance dialogue, boost mutual trust and cooperation and properly handle differences in the new year so as to forge ahead with the lasting and healthy development of the ties,” Xi told Kerry.For his part, Kerry told Xi that President Obama “is very much looking forward to seeing you again shortly,” and that the president will keep their close engagement.He said taking an updated approach to the relationship between great powers is “very important” for the United States as well.He also called on the two sides to strengthen concrete cooperation, control disputes and give more impetus for the development of ties.This is his second visit to China and his fifth to Asia since he took office in February last year. Besides China and the Republic of Korea, Kerry’s four-leg tour will also take him to Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.