BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that China-US ties would impact the “destiny of mankind”, as he met with a group of American senators in Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday told a delegation of top US lawmakers that relations between their respective countries would impact “the destiny of mankind.”

“How China and the United States get along with each other in the face of a world of change and turmoil will determine the future and destiny of mankind,” Xi said as he met with Schumer at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

“I have said many times, including to several presidents, that we have 1,000 reasons to improve China-US relations, but not one reason to ruin them,” Xi said, adding that China-US ties are “the most important bilateral relationship in the world”.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who led the six-person US delegation, agreed with Xi, saying: “Our countries, together, will shape this century. That is why we must manage our relationship responsibly and respectfully.”

Schumer and his delegation, who are in Beijing to address various tension points in the relationship, met with Xi for 80 minutes, far exceeding the one-hour scheduled.

Relations between Washington and Beijing have suffered greatly of late due to sanctions, spying accusations, and economic and geopolitical tensions. Schumer said the Senate delegation sought to redress some of these.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said he hoped Washington and Beijing could manage their differences “more rationally”.

Meeting with Schumer at Beij­ing’s Diaoyutai State Guest­house, Foreign Minister Wang told the senate delegation he hoped their visit would help the two sides “manage existing differences more rationally, helping the relationship between the two countries return to the track of healthy development”.

Wang also said he hoped they would “more accurately understand China” after the trip, which he said comes as the world is in a “turbulent period of change”.

“The crisis in Ukraine has not yet subsided, and warfare has re-emerged in the Middle East,” he said.

“All these various challenges need to be addressed by the international community, and China and the United States should play their due roles,” Wang said.

Schumer, in turn, thanked the Chinese delegation for their hospitality, noting there were several issues of “great concern” he was seeking to raise during his visit. He said “a level playing field for Ameri­can business and workers” was his delegation’s “number one goal”.

“Holding accountable China-based companies supplying deadly chemicals fuelling the fentanyl crisis in America” was another objective, he told Wang, as was “ensuring China does not support Russia’s immoral war against Ukraine”. “Advancing human rights” was an additional priority, Schumer said.

Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, described the meetings as a “step forward”.

“I felt that the Chinese leadership prepared very carefully for these meetings. They were ready for these detailed discussions. There was a level of energy on both sides, and I think a commitment to extend those conversations,” he said at a press conference.