The following is a full text of an interview of Li Zhaoxing, Chinese Ambassador to the United States, with the official Chinese weekly magazine Outlook, which is published on June 15.

Q: U.S. President Bill Clinton will soon pay a state visit to China. As the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., what do you expect from his visit?

A: When I presented my credentials to President Clinton at the White House on March 16 as the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. appointed by President Jiang Zemin, Clinton asked me to convey his best regards to President Jiang and the Chinese people. He said at the moment the two countries should be working together to create a peaceful and more prosperous future.

He also told me that he was looking forward to his visit to China and meeting again with his old friend President Jiang Zemin.

After that, he became humorous with me and his subordinates: You all allow me to go, don't you? The president seems and sounds really enthusiastic about his China visit.

His brief comments indicated the importance of the visit: In this complicated and volatile world situation and at the dawn of the 21st century, China and the U.S., as two big powers -- one, the world's biggest developing country and the other, the largest developed country, -- share extensively common interests and shoulder common responsibilities for peace and development.

Through this visit, the two countries could strengthen their dialogue and cooperation in safeguarding world peace and stability. They could also expand exchanges and deepen cooperation in economic, scientific, educational and many other fields so that the bilateral relations could make a steady and healthy progress on the basis of the three joint communiques.

The visit will also consolidate the agreement reached by the two presidents last year which called for commitment to building a constructive partnership between the two countries.

This is the will of the two peoples and also their expectations of the Beijing summit.

Q: This will be Clinton's first visit to Beijing as president of the United States. How would be the schedule be made for the president and his wife?

A: Chinese people have been well known for their warmth and hospitality since ancient times. As the usual practice of receiving foreign heads of state, the Chinese government and Chinese people will give the Clintons a grand, warm and friendly reception. It will also be their chance to repay President Clinton, the American government and the American people for their hospitality shown to President Jiang Zemin when he visited the United States last year.

The two countries have both attached great importance to this unusual visit and have been making careful preparations since last year, including making detailed plans on official sessions, meeting with the masses, interviews with the media, learning Chinese social customs and natural conditions and going sightseeing.

I am sure the visit will be both fruitful and pleasant.

Q: How would you comment on the current Sino-American relations?

A: Last October, President Jiang Zemin paid a historical visit to the United States and issued the Sino-US Joint Declaration. The two sides committed themselves to building a constructive, strategic partnership and thus established a framework for developing the bilateral relations oriented toward the 21st century.

For the past six months, the two sides have made some progress in implementing the declaration:

On April 29, the two countries reached an agreement on establishing the direct secure telephone link between them.

Officials at both cabinet and sub-cabinet levels have paid frequent mutual visits to exchange views on the issues of politics, economy, military, security and arms control.

Trade representatives of both countries have held positive and pragmatic negotiations on China's access to the World Trade Organization and have made some progress on the matter.

China's nuclear power market has been opened to the United States after the two officially began implementing China-US Agreement on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy.

On preventing nuclear proliferation, the two lately reached a memorandum of understanding on mutual visits to their nuclear facilities.

The United States stopped to present its anti-China bill at the U.N. Human Rights Conference in March to avoid confrontation.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up a joint liaison group on law-enforcement cooperation, under which embassies of both countries will start in June to have law officials in charge of anti-drug trafficking operations.

The two countries have also conducted various exchanges in the areas of energy, environmental protection, military, science and education.

Noteworthily, the two countries cooperated well, along with the international community, in handling the recent South Asian nuclear crisis, including telephone discussions between their presidents and foreign ministers on the issue.

China and the United States have also conducted many rounds of dialogue in an effort to solve the Asian financial crisis and to stablize the Asian financial situation. They played an active role in their own unique way in the matter to have won attention from the international community.

Differences exist between the two countries and that is normal. It will only be unnatural for two big powers to have all the similar views on all issues all the time. The two countries can overcome, reduce or put aside their differences through dialogues on the basis of quality and mutual respect.

The question is that whenever the two countries enjoy a good relationship, there must appear some people who are less than happy. They always try to drag the Sino-US relations to the mire of U.S. domestic politics, looking for excuses and finding faults by all means in an attempt to harm the Sino-US relation. We should keep guard against them.

Fortunately, there are not many such kind of people whose influence is limited and who are not popular with the majority of the two countries, because, in the final analysis, the two countries share more common grounds than differences.

No pain, no gain. We know that only through efforts and setbacks can we further the Sino-U.S. relations. I believe, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and in the spirit of seeking common ground while reserving differences, Sino-US relations will move ahead in a healthy and vigorous way.

Q: Will China and the U.S. sign a fourth Sino-US joint communique during Clinton's visit?

A: This question has already been officially answered by the spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry.

The Taiwan issue has all along been the most important and the most sensitive issue in the Sino-US relations, and also one of the most important topics for discussions at all previous Sino-US summits. Recently the U.S. government has time and again made public its commitment to the one-China policy and the three Sino-US joint communiques while undertaking not to support "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" policy and not to support Taiwan's independence nor its membership in the United Nations and other international organizations of sovereignty countries. The three joint communiques, with the Taiwan issue at their core, have established guiding principles for the proper handling of this issue.

People have noted that the rumor of a fourth Sino-US joint communique came from certain corners of the Taiwan island. Those who spread the rumor may believe they have their own smart and deep political considerations. But without good grounds, these considerations have no significance no matter how smart or deep they are.

At a seminar in San Francisco not long ago, I mentioned that a well-known figure in the European literature history had a saying of "art for the sake of art," but in foreign relations, there is little chance of "communique for the sake of communique." As far as communique is concerned, number does not count. What counts is perhaps their implementation. The important thing at present is for the U.S. to faithfully carry out its serious commitments in the three joint communiques. With this, Sino-U.S. relations will be free from interruptions by the Taiwan issue and will improve and develop on a steady basis.

Q: The Sino-U.S. trade has been growing for years, but China's trade surplus against the U.S. has also been expanding. What measures will China take to reduce its surplus?

A: Sino-U.S. cooperation on trade and economy has always maintained its good momentum. China has become America's fourth largest trade partner while the U.S., China's second largest. China is one of the fastest-growing markets for U.S. exports and vice-versa. Statistics from the two countries do not match fully, but they all show that bilateral trade has increased by an annual average of more than 18 percent since 1979, playing a positive role in their efforts in economic development and job creation. In the case of U.S., its direct exports to China have created more than 300,000 jobs at home and the bilateral trade provided at least one million jobs for its industrial and service sectors.

In the Sino-U.S. trade, China remained in the deficit throughout the period from 1979 to 1992 and only moved to surplus in as late as 1993. As for the size of China's surplus, there is a great difference between the statistics. Take the bilateral trade in 1996 for example. According to the statistics of the Chinese customs, China's surplus stood at 10.53 billion U.S. dollars while that of the U.S. commerce department stood at as high as 39.52 dollars, a figure definitely exaggerated. There are complicated reasons for this, linked at least to the added value from re-exports by Hong Kong and exports by Sino-U.S. joint ventures in China. We'd better leave this topic to experts of the two countries.

China's exports to the U.S. are mainly textiles, footwear, toys and other labor-intensive products with low added values, which are rarely manufactured in the U.S. and have no influence on its employment. On the contrary, they benefit the U.S. retail trade and consumers. The U.S. exports to China are largely technology-intensive, such as planes, machinery, electronics and communications products. We can see that the Sino-U.S. trade and economic relations are basically complementary and not competitive.

With its economic development, China is both willing and capable to increase imports from the U.S. In the three years from now to 2000, China's imports are expected to hit 600 billion dollars, which will bring very good opportunities to U.S. exports. We will also strive to increase imports ranging from financial services to farm produce like fruits. Another noteworthy thing is China's commitment not to devalue its currency rmb, which not only helps stabilize the financial situation in Southeast Asia, but also assists in preventing further imbalance of the Sino-U.S. trade.

Relations should be complementary. We hope the U.S. side will also do more in easing man-made restrictions on its technology exports and financial credits to China and enhancing further the competitiveness of U.S. products on the Chinese market.

Q: Could you tell us your first impressions since you started working in the U.S.?

A: I'm filled with reverence and awe as I came to the U.S. when the Sino-U.S. relations reached a crucial point linking the past to the future. I think my work is mainly to make friends, which is both pleasant and arduous.

In the past two-and-a-half months, I've made acquaintances with not a few U.S. government officials, senators, representatives and key figures in the press, business and other circles. I've also visited some states, cities, towns, universities and cultural and academic institutions.

One distinct impression is that people of various circles in the U.S. share a broad common understanding on the importance of the Sino-U.S. relations. They all agree that China and the U.S. have major common interests in the new international situation and that normal Sino-U.S. relations are in the interest of the two peoples and are significant to the security and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and even the whole world.

I've met, dined or held sessions with 60 of the 535 members of the U.S. Congress. They are all very friendly and hold China to be an important country. But there are also some others who know very little about or have deep prejudice against China. For example, ignorant as they are about Tibet's geographical position, its basic history and present situation, they have elaborated in bombastical talks on the so-called Chinese government's violation of culture and human rights in Tibet. Some people, with never a glimpse at the clauses of religious freedom in China's constitution, made fierce attack on the "religious persecution" in China. Some, with no knowledge even of the "four great inventions" of ancient China, nor of the fact that modern Chinese scientists have developed rocket-launch technology through their own efforts, cooked up stories about U.S. companies illegally transferring missile technology to China. To them, I can hardly show my appreciation. It needs much efforts and time from both countries to help these people truly understand China.

I recently visited President Clinton's home town Hope as well as Fayetteville and Littlerock where he once studied and worked. Wherever I went, I was moved by the people's friendliness towards China. I met some of Clinton's childhood friends and his fellow-townsmen, who all were proud of Clinton's upcoming visit to China. This illustrated in one aspect that the U.S. people cherish Sino-U.S. friendship. The people's feelings are the soil to the flowering friendship between the two countries.

Here is another interesting anecdote. Rabbi Arthur Schneier, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in the U.S., who was recently received by President Jiang in Beijing, highly values Sino-U.S. friendship while at the same time is fully aware of the difficulties in further development. At our first meeting, he expressed sympathy for me on the difficulty of my work. He told me about his experience, saying that there was no need to be nervous and that with God in heart there would be no fear. I agreed and said that my God is the Chinese and U.S. peoples. He approved my words with pleasure.

We can see that it goes with the trend of the time and the aspiration of the people for China and the U.S. to develop Sino-US friendship in the common interest of the two countries. There is no stopping to it despite hardships and complications. In this I firmly believe.

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