Premier Li Keqiang met with Jacob Lew, Special Representative of the US President Barack Obama as well as US Treasury secretary, in Beijing on Feb 29.

Premier Li said a good China-US relationship is important for both countries, and China attaches great importance to Sino-US ties and the economic and trade cooperation with the US.

President Xi Jinping will meet with President Barack Obama soon, which will further boost the bilateral ties, said the Premier.

China became the largest trade partner of the US for the first time in 2015, said the Premier, adding that China is willing to work closely with the US and positively work towards a high-standard, mutually beneficial bilateral investment treaty.

Concerning China’s economy, Premier Li stressed that China is now going through its economic transition as well as transiting its economic growth drivers. China still has space in implementing a proactive fiscal policy and such policy will be implemented more forcefully, he said.

China will continue its structural reform, especially supply side reform so as to generate more market vitality and social creativity, boost new growth drivers as well as transform and upgrade traditional growth drivers, he added.

He said China will create a fair and competitive market environment by further streamlining administration, delegating power, boosting mass entrepreneurship and innovation as well as lowering market entry.

When talking about the RMB exchange rate, the Premier reiterated that China will implement a managed floating exchange rate regime based on market demand and supply with reference to a basket of currencies, and maintain the RMB exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level.

He gave positive comment on the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Shanghai last week, saying that major economies including China and the US, should enhance microeconomic policy coordination and send a stable signal in order to boost market confidence, jointly promote the powerful, sustainable and balanced world economic growth.

Lew said the Chinese government has sent a positive message regarding the RMB exchange rate and economic structural reform.

The US is willing to enhance communication with China, and successfully launch a new round of US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue and make substantial progress in the negotiation of the bilateral investment treaty, Lew said.

The two sides also exchanged ideas on international and regional issues of common concern.