China's development and its opening to the global economy have benefited the United States in many ways, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday.

The two nations should take steps to meet challenges that come with closer bilateral economic relations, he said in a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences after participating in the Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue.

Bernanke said the United States must do its part "in particular by increasing its own rate of national savings and by avoiding protectionism."

China, on the other hand, should further its economic reforms to achieve more efficient resource allocation and a more balanced growth that relies more on domestic consumption instead of investment and exports, he said.

"The economic relationships between China and the United States is of extraordinary importance, and both countries have much to gain from interactions with each other," he said.

Bernanke said that Chinese exports to the United States have boosted US real incomes by allowing US households to purchase consumption goods and US firms to purchase intermediate inputs at lower cost.

China is also a growing market for investment and exports by US firms, he said.

Since China joined the World Trade Organization five years ago, US exports to China have more than doubled, he noted.

"As China develops further, its households and firms will demand a greater variety of goods and services, enhancing opportunities for producers in industrial countries, including the United States," Bernanke said.

At the same time, growing international trade does displace some workers and firms in the United States.

"The policy challenge for the United States is to help those who are adversely affected by trade while preserving the broad gains that openness to trade provides for the economy as a whole," he said.

China and the United States should co-operate to address challenges in such areas as energy, the environment, intellectual property rights, and global imbalances, Bernanke said.

"With greater integration comes greater interdependence and greater responsibility," he said.

"I hope that our countries will work together in a spirit of co-operation to address these shared challenges."

Bernanke left Beijing for home on Friday after he gave the speech at the academy.

Source: China Daily