Former Minister of the State Council Information Office Zhao Qizheng speaks in the U.S.-China Think Tank Symposium in Des Moines,Iowa, the United States, June 12, 2017.(Xinhua/Wang Ping)

DES MOINES, the United States, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The prospects of U.S.-China relations are very promising, according to participants of the U.S.-China Think Tank Symposium, which opened Monday in Des Moines, capital of U.S. state of Iowa.

More than 20 Chinese and U.S. experts and scholars gathered here to deliberate on such topics as Sino-U.S. relations after the Mar-a-Lago meeting, economic and trade cooperation, local cooperation and the prospects of the relationship between the two countries.

In a speech at the opening ceremony, Former Minister of the State Council Information Office Zhao Qizheng said rapid development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation not only is an epitome of Sino-U.S. relations, but also helps build up a solid foundation for Sino-U.S. cooperation in other fields.

"People of both countries have benefited from this economic and trade relationship," said Zhao. "Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation promises huge opportunities and potentials, and the prospects are very promising."

It is vital to establish an unimpeded dialogue and cooperation mechanism between the two countries, and think tanks can provide useful reference and rational consultation in this field, Zhao stressed.

As for trade gap, Zhao holds that China runs a surplus in goods trade but a deficit in service trade with the United States. Both Chinese and U.S. governments are making efforts to narrow the gap, and have introduced the 100-Day Action Plan and reached consensus on the next-step targets.

Chinese Consul General in Chicago Hong Lei said the relationship between China and the United States has experienced ups and downs all the way along but has forged ahead, economic and trade cooperation has played the roles of "ballast stone" and "propeller."

"Sino-U.S. relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world, for which economic and trade cooperation is the most active and lasting driving force," Hong added.

Zach Nunn, member of the Iowa State Legislature, Stapleton Roy, former U.S. ambassador to China, and Kenneth Quinn, president of World Food Prize Foundation, expressed wishes for mutual beneficial and win-win relationship between China and the United States. Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie attended the meeting.

Chinese scholars and experts visited Kimberley Farm on Sunday, where they looked around farm machinery, warehouses, and farm land, and exchanged views with farm owner Rick Kimberley on operation mode, mechanization and management of modern farms, as well as on agricultural exchange between China and the United States.

Statistics show that bilateral goods trade between China and the United States has jumped from 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 1979 to 519.6 billion dollars in 2016, up 207 times. In 2016, bilateral service trade volume between the two countries exceeded 100 billion dollars, and the two-way investment totaled 170 billion dollars.

The symposium is jointly sponsored by the World food Prize Foundation, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.