BEIJING, Jan 13: China and the United States must boost cooperation to overcome the global economic downturn, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday, calling the crisis a crucial moment in their sometimes tense relationship.

Wen made the comments to former US President Jimmy Carter, visiting Beijing to celebrate 30 years since the two nations established formal ties, ending decades of Cold War estrangement.

The upbeat words of Wen and other senior Chinese officials to the Democrat elder statesman come at a time when the downturn is stoking trade tensions and Beijing is preparing for the new administration of Democrat President-elect Barack Obama.

“The current international political and economic situation is complex and changeable, and China-US relations are at a crucial moment of drawing on the past to illuminate the way forward,” Wen told Carter, according to a report on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website.

“In particular, in responding to the international financial and economic hardships, we must strengthen mutual trust and cooperation and pass through the difficulties together.”

Wen’s published comments mentioned no specifics about handling the downturn, which has slowed China’s exports to the US and other big consumers. But he and other Chinese officials sought to set a reassuring tone that one local analyst said was aimed at influencing Obama.

“China is looking to reassure the US that it doesn’t want to challenge its dominance even with the financial crisis,” said Yang Ping, chief editor of Beijing Cultural Review, a magazine on policy debates.

“We have too much at stake in the relationship to decouple economically or politically,” Yang said.

Obama has vowed to increase pressure on Beijing over export incentives and its managed currency, which many in Congress blame for magnifying China’s trade surplus.

But China has invested a big chunk of its growing foreign exchange reserves in US bonds and assets.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told Carter on Monday that China-US relations were now the “world’s most important bilateral relationship,” the official People’s Daily reported.

“China and the United States should join hands in responding to a series of shared challenges confronting the international community,” Hu said.—Reuters