China-U.S. cooperation has never been a case of one party giving favor to the other, or one party taking advantage of the other, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday.

Wang made the statement in an interview with Xinhua on current China-U.S. relations, adding both countries have benefited much from this cooperation, and no one is being taken advantage of or being ripped off.

Wang claimed mutually beneficial cooperation over the years has turned China and the U.S. into a community with shared interests. China has achieved rapid growth in part thanks to its opening-up to and cooperation with the rest of the world, including the U.S. 

China's continued growth has also created sustained demand and an enormous market for the U.S. and other countries, he added.

"If China-U.S. cooperation were unfair and not reciprocal, how could it have continued for several decades? How could China-U.S. ties have come such a long way?" Wang questioned.

"Globalization and free trade have delivered development dividends, but they have also created tensions for countries and affected their economic structures and distribution of interests. This should be dealt with through internal reform." 

Acting like a sick person who forces others to take medicine for his own illness or even resorting to decoupling will not work, noted the official.

"In the globalized world today, the interests of countries are closely intertwined. The development of China and of the U.S. is not a zero-sum game, and we should not reject each other. What we should do is to draw on each other's strengths to achieve common development."

As COVID-19 takes its toll on the global economy, China and the U.S., the world's two largest economies, should work for mutual benefit on an equal footing, stop attempts at decoupling and advance the relationship through cooperation, and live up to their responsibility for the world.