Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met here on Saturday with his U.S. counterpart Hillary Clinton, and the two exchanged views on bilateral ties, President Barack Obama's planned visit to China and the regional and international issues of common concern.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (R) meets with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Singapore Nov. 14, 2009.

During the meeting, Yang said that Sino-U.S. ties have enjoyed a good start, and both countries have made it clear that joint efforts should be made to build positive and all-round cooperative ties in the 21 century.

The two sides have established a strategic and economic dialogue system with the first such dialogue having been held successfully, laying a sound foundation for a long-term, healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. relations, Yang said, adding that the relations between the two countries will face new opportunities for further development in the coming years, and both countries should continue to implement the decisions taken by the two countries and consolidate the foundation for the development of such ties.

Describing Obama's forthcoming first visit to China as being of great significance for further growth of Sino-U.S. ties in the new era, Yang said that Chinese President Hu Jintao is expected to exchange views with his U.S. counterpart Obama on key issues of common concern, and discuss the ways of how to further develop China-U.S. ties.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to Sino-U.S ties, and is willing to share the efforts with the United States to enhance dialogues, exchanges and cooperation, taking President Obama's visit as a new starting point, Yang said, adding that the two countries should work together to push forward the all-round development of bilateral ties in the 21st century.

For her part, U.S Secretary of State Hillary said that President Obama's visit to China marks a milestone in the history of U.S.-China ties, and President Obama is expected to exchange views with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on U.S.-China ties, regional and global issues of common concern.

The United States is willing to work together with China to expand cooperation in all fields and further deepen U.S.-China relations, she added.

The two sides also discussed the issues such as the climate change, G20 cooperation and the nuclear problems in the Korean Peninsula and Iran.

Yang invited Hillary Clinton to visit China next year, and the latter accepted the invitation.

The meetings between China and U.S. foreign ministers took place on the sidelines of the on-going APEC Leaders' Week, which kicked off on Nov. 8.