China top official comments on China-US ties.

China's top official said Thursday China and the United States should strive for a healthy and sustainable relationship by getting over "bumps on the road", ahead of the first direct engagement between the two countries since Biden took office.

At a virtual press conference on the closing day of China's annual congress, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang admitted China-U.S. relationship "encountered serious difficulties in the past several years" but it has managed to overcome "twists and turns" in more than 40 years since the official establishment of diplomatic relations.

Although the Biden administration has toned down rhetoric on China, there has been no sign of softening the tough stance on the world's biggest developing country.

In their first month in office, Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have reaffirmed many of Trump administration's most significant steps targeting China including a determination that its crackdown on Uighur Muslims and other minorities in fast west Xinjiang region constitutes a genocide and a flat-out rejection of nearly all of China's maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Li did not mention the specific conflicts with the U.S. but said the development of China-U.S. relationship should be based on principles that "respect each other's core interests and major concerns, refrain from interfering each other's internal affairs."

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed the statement issued by the U.S. earlier that direct talks between U.S. national security team and China's top diplomats is to take place next week in Alaska.

Li said both sides should have more conversations on different domains and levels and focus on common grounds.