Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met Friday with a delegation from the American Foreign Policy Council, stressing the importance of the Taiwan issue in handling the Sino-US relations.

Tang told Newt Gingrich, head of the delegation and former speaker of the US House of Representatives, that the Chinese government attaches great importance to bilateral ties.

He noted that the common interest between China and the United States has increased rather than declined in the new century amid the greatly changed international situation and the prospect for future cooperation enlarged rather than narrowed.

He said: "We believe that the Sino-US ties could reach healthy and stable development if only we abide by basic international code and the three Sino-US communiques."

"And if only we respect each other, treat each other with equality, seek common ground and reserve differences, share each other's concern and properly handle differences, especially on the Taiwan issue," he added.

"China is willing to make joint efforts with the US side to push forward the sound development of constructive and cooperative Sino-US ties," he said.

Gingrich and his entourage arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for an eight-day visit to China.

During their stay in Beijing, senior Chinese leader Jia Qinglin and Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, met the delegation.

The American Foreign Policy Council is a prominent think tank in the United States, which focuses on the study and foreign exchanges of national security policies. The organization has sent a number of delegations to China since 1994.