China has embarked on a more pro-active campaign to counter criticism in the US of its growing economic and military power, using the visit of a senior official to Washington to make the case in public for a strategic relationship and employing a top US lobbying firm to communicate with Congress.

Addressing a meeting of the US-China Business Council, Tang Jiaxuan, state councillor, said: “Let us take along view from a strategic plane when looking at and handling China US relations.”