WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that the United States and China have an "important relationship" that Washington needs to "work hard to maintain."

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert made the remarks at a daily briefing on Tuesday afternoon when asked by reporters how to characterize U.S.-China ties.

Describing China as a "competitor," Nauert said that "it's a complex and broad-based relationship that we have with China."

She noted the two sides share "areas of common interest," including the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

"We also have areas of disagreement and areas where we have challenges, and we'll keep working together on that," the spokesperson added.

"It's obviously an important relationship that we need to work hard to maintain," she said.

On Monday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying that China and the United States should "follow the right path of win-win cooperation, rather than go astray toward conflict and confrontation."

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and the United States, Wang said.

"The past four decades have witnessed tremendous changes in both countries and substantial benefits from mutual exchanges," Wang said. "The most important lesson is that cooperation leads to win-win results while conflict ends up with a loss for both sides."

He said current China-U.S. ties were at a critical phase, and China would maintain peaceful development and continue reform and opening-up, to realize rejuvenation while avoiding the "power leading to hegemony" stereotype.

He called on the U.S. side to stop "groundless accusations against China and wrong actions undermining China's core interests."

Pompeo said that despite obvious differences on many issues between the two sides, the United States does not mean to oppose China's development, and there is no policy to fully contain China.