Chinese and US vice-presidents talk up global market

China and the United States share a responsibility for boosting global market confidence, Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping told his visiting US counterpart Joe Biden yesterday.

Mr Xi, expected to succeed Hu Jintao as president in 2013, will inherit responsibility for his nation’s vast, sometimes troublesome relationship with the US.

In remarks to Mr Biden reported by the Chinese foreign ministry, Mr Xi said economic concerns were dominating that relationship and warned about friction over Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.

He said: “Recently, turmoil in international financial markets has deepened and global economic growth faces severe challenges.

“As the world’s two biggest economies, China and the US have a responsibility to strengthen macro-economic policy co-ordination and together boost market confidence.”

Mr Biden’s visit is about building trust, not striking deals. Speaking in the Great Hall of People, he said: “I would suggest there is no more important relationship that we need to establish on the part of the US than a close relationship with China.”