Strengthening cooperation is a realistic need and the right choice for China and the United States, Chinese Premier Li Qiang told U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing on Friday.

Yellen is on a four-day visit to China starting from Thursday – her first trip to the country as U.S. treasury chief.

Whether China and the U.S. can handle their relationship well bears on the future of the world, said Li. He added that the two presidents reached important common understandings in Bali last year, chartering the course for China-U.S. relations.

Noting mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are the basic ways to conduct state-to-state relations, he said China hopes that the U.S. can meet China halfway and bring bilateral relations back on the right path guided by reason and pragmatism.

He noted that China and the U.S. should strengthen communication and seek consensus on important economic issues between the two countries, so as to inject stability and positive energy into bilateral economic relations.

Yellen said the U.S. does not seek "decoupling" and is willing to implement the consensus of the Bali meeting reached by the two heads of state with China to promote communication, avoid misunderstandings caused by differences, and enhance cooperation in macroeconomic stabilization and addressing global challenges, contributing to a mutually beneficial win-win situation for the U.S. and Chinese economies.