Beijing ready to improve ties with Washington: Chinese official

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Hong Kong, November 8 (IANS) Beijing is ready to improve ties with Washington, a senior Chinese official said Wednesday, days before a highly anticipated potential meeting between leaders Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in San Francisco,the media reported.

Recent high-level meetings have sent out "positive signals and raised the expectations of the international community on the improvement of China-US relations", Vice-President Han Zheng told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.

"We are ready to strengthen the communication and dialogue with the US at all levels, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, properly manage differences, and jointly address global challenges," Han said, CNN reported.

A "stable and sound" relationship is the common expectation of people from both sides, he added.

President Biden will travel to San Francisco on November 14 to host representatives from the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies.

US officials have stopped short of confirming the Xi-Biden meeting, suggesting preparations were underway, but noted that the Chinese government regularly confirms high-level meetings only at the last minute, CNN reported.

Ahead of that potential meeting, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has invited Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, known as the country's "economic tsar", for a two-day meeting starting Thursday.

Ties between the two of world's largest economies, which had been at loggerheads over a host of issues, have warmed after a flurry of high-level exchanges over the summer, CNN reported.