Beijing has retorted that the United States is holding on to "the obsolete notion of Cold War thinking" after President Donald Trump called China a "rival" in his annual State of the Union address.
The two nations shared both interests and differences, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said when asked by journalists to comment on Trump's speech on Wednesday.
"However the common interests of both countries far outweigh their differences," she said, adding that co-operation is "the only correct choice" for US-China relations.
"We hope that the United States will abandon the obsolete notion of Cold War thinking and zero-sum game," she said, adding that the countries should respect each other and develop ties.
Trump's calling China and Russia "rivals" during his address was in line with the US national security strategy he unveiled in December, which reflected a harder line toward China than the previous administration.
"Around the world, we face rogue regimes, terrorist groups and rivals like China and Russia that challenge our interests, our economy and our values," he said.
Relations between the world's two largest economies are tensing as Washington prepares to unveil the results of a probe into alleged Chinese intellectual property theft, which could result into a big "fine," Trump says.
