Xi says China, US 'have enormous shared interests'

BEIJING (AFP) - China's new head of state Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that his country and the United States "have enormous shared interests", in his first major diplomatic encounter since assuming office last week.

"In the China-US relationship, we have enormous shared interests, but of course, unavoidably, we have some differences," he told visiting US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The Chinese president added that it was important for both countries to "approach and handle this relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective".

Mr Lew's visit to China comes with tensions between the countries having risen recently amid US allegations that China has engaged in hacking against US companies, which Washington warned could damage relations.