WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy and Vice Premier Liu He to discuss bilateral ties here at the White House.

Liu arrived in Washington on Tuesday afternoon for economic and trade consultations with the U.S. side at the invitation of the U.S. government.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, leads a delegation whose members come from major economic sectors of the Chinese government.

Liu extended the warm wishes of Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan to Trump and U.S. first lady Melania. Trump expressed his gratitude for the wishes, asking Liu to extend their wishes to Xi and Peng.

Liu said that guided by Xi and Trump, the bilateral ties have achieved important and positive progresses. He added that the two nations, whose relations are at an important stage, need to implement the significant consensus reached by their heads of state, meet each other halfway, respect each other, and work together to push forward bilateral ties in a healthy and stable manner.

For his part, Trump said he values the good working relations and personal friendship with Xi.

He added that he is willing to continue to keep close contact with Xi so as to ensure that the bilateral relationships could continue to move forward.

The two sides engaged in deep-going exchanges of ideas on China-U.S. economic and trade ties in the meeting.

Liu said that his ongoing visit aims to continue the in-depth communication with the U.S. side on bilateral economic and trade issues in accordance with the consensus of the two presidents.

China is willing to work with the United States to appropriately handle and settle economic and trade issues of mutual concern on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, in a bid to make sure that the bilateral economic and trade cooperation remains to serve as the ballast and propeller of bilateral ties, said the senior Chinese official.

Trump said that it is very important for the two nations to keep a sound cooperative relationship in economy and trade.

He added that the two nations are enjoying sound development momentum, huge market potential and wide room for furthering economic and trade collaboration.

The White House host urged economic teams of the two sides to work together to proactively settle the problems existing in bilateral economic and trade relations.

The two nations should prioritize trade and investment cooperation in such areas as energy and manufacturing, expand agricultural product trade and market access, and deepen bilateral cooperation on intellectual property rights protection, so as to create more tangible benefits for the two peoples, Trump said.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also attended the meeting.