New US Ambassador to China Max Baucus said the China-US relationship is considered the "most important bilateral relationship in the world" and the two countries should not be distracted by differences.

In a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia on Friday in Hainan province, Baucus highlighted the strong common economic interests of the two nations and said both sides need to "keep talking, keep working with each other and keep finding ways to address differences".

He said that as long as both sides work really hard, challenges like the territorial disputes in the South and East China seas will not be as big as they seem to be.

"National security will not be that high-profile if we really work hard to keep economic ties robust," the US ambassador said.

In highlighting how closely the two nations' economic interests are aligned, Baucus said more than 700,000 jobs in the United States have come from China and that each year more than half-a-trillion dollars in goods and services change hands between the two countries.

"Forty years ago, it would be difficult to imagine the interdependency that we have today," said Baucus, who added that annual bilateral trade four decades ago was less than $100 million, with nearly no direct investment in each market.

A day before Baucus' speech, Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai called for open dialogue between the two nations to handle their differences and avoid disruptions in the overall relationship.

Both sides have to be "frank and direct in discussing differences, and constructive and pragmatic in managing them," said Cui in a speech at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington. "We have to be careful that we never lose sight of the big picture and do not give anyone the illusion that they could take advantage of and manipulate our differences."

In his speech, Cui used the Chinese word weiji for crisis. That word combines the characters: wei,meaning danger, and ji,meaning opportunity.

"The key to avoiding crisis is to turn dangers into opportunities for cooperation," he said. "And the concept is particularly true for managing the relations between the US and China."

"If members of the international community have the vision, wisdom, determination and will to work together, we'll be able to seize the opportunities and make a better world for all. If not, we'll probably be overwhelmed, and all of us may end up as losers," he said.

Cui noted that the new relationship model between the US and China stresses mutual respect toward differences. He said such respect is a reciprocal process and a two-way street.

"A positive approach will have a positive response and a negative attitude probably will get something similar, so you reap what you sow," Cui said.

Contact the writers at zhaoyanrong@chinadaily.com.cn, zhengyangpeng@chinadaily.com.cn and caichunying@chinadailyusa.com