Suppressing interference and working as friends and partners is the "only appropriate choice" for China and the United States, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks during a daily press briefing when asked to comment on the 40th anniversary of former U.S. President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China.

Although the ties have experienced difficulties during the past 40 years, China-U.S. bilateral relations have generally enjoyed tremendous development and brought huge benefits to the people of both countries, Hong said.

Healthy and stable Sino-U.S. relations are of great significance to both sides, Hong said, adding that the two countries have currently maintained a positive development trend amid Vice President Xi Jinping's just-concluded visit to the U.S.

China and the U.S. will further carry out the consensus reached by Chinese President Hu Jintao and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and keep the development of bilateral ties on a positive and healthy track, Hong said.

"China hopes to work with the U.S. to enhance trust, consolidate consensus, expand cooperations, manage disputes and safeguard the positive aspects of bilateral ties," he said.

Well-developed China-U.S. relations benefit not only the two countries but also the peace, development and stability of the region and the world, Hong noted.

China hopes the two countries will cooperate more frequently on significant international and regional issues and make constructive contributions to the world's peaceful and stable development, he added.

Then-President of the United States Richard Nixon made a formal visit to China from Feb. 21 to 28, 1972, with a China-U.S. joint communique released in Shanghai on the last day of his visit. The visit opened the doors to Sino-U.S. relations that had been closed for many years.

The two countries officially established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial-level on Jan. 1, 1979.