BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping has encouraged Howard Schultz, Starbucks Corporation's chairman emeritus, and the company to continue to play a positive role in advancing China-US economic and trade cooperation and bilateral ties.

China's new journey to fully building a modern socialist country will provide broader space for enterprises from across the world, including Starbucks and other American companies, to develop in China, Xi stressed

In a reply letter to Schultz on Jan 6, Xi stressed that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the 1.4 billion Chinese people have made long-term and arduous efforts to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and pursue socialist modernization.

China's new journey to fully building a modern socialist country will provide broader space for enterprises from across the world, including Starbucks and other American companies, to develop in China, Xi stressed.

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Xi said he hoped that the coffee company would make active efforts to promote China-US economic and trade cooperation, as well as the two countries' relations.

In his letter to Xi earlier, Schultz congratulated China on the upcoming completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects under Xi's leadership, and expressed his respect for the Chinese people and Chinese culture.