A senior Chinese official Monday described the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogues (SE&D) as "a pioneering undertaking in state-to-state relations", with candid and in-depth dialogues on the strategic, long-term and overarching issues in bilateral ties.

"I believe the Strategic and Economic Dialogues should be an important and effective bridge in promoting communication, understanding and trust between China and the United States, and should contribute to building a positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-U.S. partnership," said State Councilor Dai Bingguo at the opening ceremony of the second SE&D Monday in Beijing.

Dai and Vice Premier Wang Qishan, as President Hu Jintao's special representatives, co-chaired the two-day dialogues with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Dai said the two countries were "at a crucial historical juncture in the development of mankind and of China-U.S. relations."

Dai noted that China and the United States, as the world's largest developing and developed countries, "should remove man-made disruptions and unswervingly follow the direction charted by our two presidents" to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive partnership for the 21st century.

He said all countries, in particular major ones, should let suspicion, confrontation and war give way to communication, cooperation and the pursuit of peace.

"We should foster a new type of relations among major countries characterized by mutual respect, harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation of countries with different social systems, cultural traditions and development stages," said Dai.

"This will contribute to the sustained and common development and prosperity of our two countries," while serving the interest of the two peoples and the people around the world, he said.

"We do not believe that world affairs should be determined by one or two individual countries. Yet should China and the United States not be able to build and develop such a new type of relations, the chance for peace will be seriously undermined in the 21st century," he added.

The dialogue was initiated by presidents of both countries last year.