Locke said many of the world's problems will only be solved by cooperation between the US and China.
"The entire world is looking for leadership from both China and the US, so we've got to get this relationship right," he added. "We are off to a good start."
Despite US President Barack Obama's administration bringing a record number of WTO cases against China, Locke said this does not mean the US won't cooperate with China.
"We have had trade disputes with Canada and France," he added, emphasizing that Americans should welcome Chinese businesses that want to invest in the US, much as Japan and South Korea have done as their economies industrialized.
He noted that anti-Chinese statements made in recent months by members of Congress do not reflect the views of the Obama administration - but he did not say whether he was referring to the House Intelligence Committee report two months ago, which described Chinese telecom companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp as posing national security concerns to the US.
Locke said that only around a hundred of the thousands of foreign direct investments made in the US each year are reviewed for national security reasons, and that only six or seven of those had involved Chinese firms.
"The vast majority of these investments are not problematic, and they are very much welcomed," he said.
Bone-chilling cold, but lots of fun!