BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday held a banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to welcome U.S. President Donald Trump on his state visit to China.

Addressing the banquet, Xi said the China-U.S. relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the current world.

"We must make it work, and never mess it up," Xi said, adding that both China and the United States stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation.

"Our two countries should be partners rather than rivals," he added.

Xi also said that the two sides agreed to build a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability to promote the steady, sound, and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, and bring more peace, prosperity and progress to the world.

"Looking back at the course of China-U.S. relations, whether or not we could have mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation is the key to whether the relationship can advance steadily," Xi said.

Noting that China-U.S. relations concern the well-being of the over 1.7 billion people of both countries and affect the interests of the over 8 billion people of the world, Xi said both sides should rise up to this historical responsibility and steer the giant ship of China-U.S. relations forward steadily and in the right direction.

In his remarks at the banquet, Trump said the two sides had positive and constructive conversations.

Noting that the U.S.-China relationship is the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world, Trump said the two countries should strengthen cooperation to create a better future for the world.■