Officials from China and the United States will meet on Thursday in Washington D.C. for a security cooperation meeting, China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Lu Kang, China's foreign ministry spokesman, said US and China will partake in the eighth Consultation on Strategic Security and Multilateral Arms Control in the US capital to discuss the status of China-US security situation, among other concerns.

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"We hope this consultation will promote strategic mutual trust and contribute to building a new type of major-country relations between China and the United States," Lu said.

Lu told the press that Chinese vice foreign minister Li Baodong and US undersecretary of state Rose Gottemoeller would co-chair the meeting

He said the two nations will discuss a whole gamut of security issues which include the current world security situation, global nuclear governance, outer space safety, missile defense, and China-US security cooperation.

US-China shaky relations

Meanwhile, a Chinese senior official said Beijing and Washington need to talk more often and reaffirm their commitments to build closer ties amid worrisome perceptions of shaky relations between both nations.

Fu Ying, chairwoman of the National People's Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, called on China and the US to reaffirm their solidarity by doing more talking and closing the gap between negative global perception of China-US relations and the reality that ties are closer than ever.

She said that despite the growing economic partnership between the two nations, as well as their mutual cooperation on important global issues such as the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change, experts in the US have predicted that with the current speed China is going in its economic and political affairs, conflict between the two sides is inevitable.

"The need for cooperation and the impact of competition are both growing. The gap between perceptions and real life may reflect the need to rebuild consensus," Fu said on Tuesday at a seminar at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Deteriorating

Fu said China and the US have accomplished so much in terms of strengthening their bilateral relations, but some naysayers have consistently said that ties between the two sides are deteriorating.

She said the leaders of China and the US hold meetings semiannually and China has become the US' largest trading partner on a monthly basis. Around five million people traveled between the two nations last year, and the two sides came to together to push for the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Fu said that although there is a large number of 'optimistic voices' on China-US relations in Washington, there are also some who believe that the US' "constructive engagement" policy pursued by past Washington administrations needs to be reviewed.

Friendly moments

"In the past 30 years, we had friendly moments, but never very close; we had problems, but the ties were strong enough to avoid derailing. Now we are at a high level, and if we work together, we are capable of making a difference in the world, but if we fight, we will bring disaster to the world," Fu said.

Fu said the US has been sending 'confusing' messages sometimes as reflected in its reluctance to acknowledge China's accomplishments such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Part of the risks involved in strengthening bilateral ties between the two sides is the current tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, she pointed out.

Fu emphasized that the US has committed blatant provocations to China's sovereignty in recent years after Washington launched its 'pivot to Asia" policy. She added that disputes over controversial issues between the two countries have been exploited.

Fu said the two countries should seriously think about Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposal that the China and US should avoid conflict as they move towards a new model of major country relations, respecting each other's sovereignty.