China News Service, Beijing, February 8th (Reporter Liang Xiaohui) Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning presided over a regular press conference on the 8th.

  A reporter asked: US President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union speech that the US seeks competition with China rather than conflict.

In addition, he also stated that he will cooperate with China for the benefit of the United States, but if it threatens the sovereignty of the United States, he will act to protect the country.

What is China's position on this?

  Mao Ning: The Chinese side has always believed that Sino-US relations are not a zero-sum game in which you lose and I win, and you rise and fall. The success of China and the United States is an opportunity rather than a challenge for each other.

The vast earth fully accommodates the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States.

China does not evade and is not afraid of competition, but we are opposed to using competition to define the entire Sino-US relationship, smearing a country under the banner of competition, restricting the legitimate development rights of other countries, and even harming the global industrial chain and supply chain. This is not the act of a responsible major country.

  A healthy and stable Sino-US relationship is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and is also the general expectation of the international community.

We will handle Sino-US relations in accordance with the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping. At the same time, we will firmly defend China's sovereignty, security, and development interests.

The United States should establish an objective and rational understanding of China, pursue a positive and pragmatic China policy, and work with China to push Sino-US relations back to the track of healthy and stable development.

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