WASHINGTON -- There is no better option than cooperation for China and the United States, Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, said here on Thursday.

"History proves that both China and the U.S. gain from cooperation, and lose in confrontation. So for our two countries, there is no better option than cooperation," Cui told a reception at the Chinese Embassy to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Cui, meanwhile, urged efforts to "promote a China-U.S. relationship based on coordination, cooperation and stability, and reject the notion of a new Cold War."

"At this important moment, it is most necessary to have a correct reading of each other's strategic intention, to respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and to properly manage our differences," he said.

While stressing the need to develop sound economic and trade relations between the world's top economies, the Chinese ambassador also said that the two sides should resist words and deeds aimed at "decoupling."

"We need to join hands for the sustained growth of the world economy, for global issues such as climate change, and for challenges brought by artificial intelligence and other new technologies," he said. "The world will look to us, its two major countries, for greater contributions to human progress."

Cui also attached great importance to people-to-people exchanges between the two sides, "as this is the bond between hearts and the bridge between souls."

"Any attempt to undercut the people's friendship must be thwarted. It is the people who make history. And it is the Chinese and American people, not any political force or schemer, that will determine the future of China-U.S. relations," he said.

The reception was attended by some 600 guests, including current and former U.S. government officials, representatives from academic and business communities, and diplomats of other countries.