WASHINGTON - China and the United States have the world's most consequential economic relationship and it really pays for them to cooperate a great deal, an economist with US-based think tank RAND Corporation has said.

Howard J. Shatz, a RAND senior economist, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, ahead of US President Donald Trump's upcoming state visit to China, with trade expected to be one of the major topics in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

There has been "a lot of continuity" in terms of US economic relations with China since Trump took office early this year, said Shatz, who holds a PhD in public policy from Harvard University.