Chinese Premier Meets Pro-trump Us Senator Daines And Calls For Dialogue Instead Of Confrontation

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Sunday that Beijing and Washington should choose dialogue instead of confrontation during his meeting with U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, as the two countries are locked in rising friction over trade tariffs and efforts to combat illegal fentanyl trade .

Daines is the first member of Congress to visit Beijing since Trump took office in January. During the meeting with Li, he was joined by the leaders of several American businesses, including FedEx Corp. CEO Raj Subramaniam, Boeing Co.'s senior vice president Brendan Nelson, Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon and Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla.

Li said relations between the countries "have come to an important juncture" and Chinese President Xi Jinping had noted the two countries could become partners and friends that contribute to each other's success during a call with Trump in January.

"History tells us that China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Our two sides need to choose dialogue over confrontation, win-win cooperation over zero-sum competition," he said.

China hoped that the U.S. would work together to promote the steady and sustainable development of the China-U.S. relations, he added.