AKIPRESS.COM - The United States and China vowed Wednesday to improve their economic and security cooperation, saying they wouldn't let persistent differences over maritime claims, cyberhacking and currency hamper a relationship critical to global peace and prosperity.

Opening this year's "Strategic and Economic Dialogue," Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to avoid confrontation between nations accounting for a quarter of the world's people and a third of the global economy, the AP said.

His theme was largely echoed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, leaders of an American delegation that also included Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and three other Obama administration Cabinet members.

Washington hopes to secure closer coordination with China against climate change, an end to Chinese industrial cyberespionage against American companies and stricter rules governing territorial claims in Asia's contested, resource-rich seas.

They also agreed to stronger fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks and to study gas use in industrial boilers.