Time to lift US ties to a higher level

China is ready to work with the US to take bilateral relations to a higher level in a sustained, healthy and stable manner, President Hu Jintao said yesterday.

At a meeting with his US counterpart George W. Bush in Zhongnanhai, the central authorities' compound, Hu said China has always seen its ties with the US from a long-term and strategic perspective.

Hu expressed sympathy for the fatal attack on a US tourist at the Drum Tower in Beijing on Saturday, too.