Both China and the United States should "stand on the right side of history" in setting the direction of their relations amid unprecedented difficulties and setbacks they encountered in the past a few years, said Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, on Thursday.

Zhou made the remarks while addressing the virtual Vision China event. He said that "the right side of history" means removing barriers and building bridges rather than erecting walls and digging ditches, or closing doors and blocking roads.

"To be on the right side of history, we should move forward from where we began," Zhou suggested. He talked about the "ping-pong diplomacy" in 1971, which marked a thaw in Sino-US relations and paved the way for the establishment of diplomatic ties. He also underlined the importance of people-to-people exchanges in raising public support for a meaningful friendship and substantial cooperation.

Zhou noted that the Sino-US relationship is widely considered the most important in today's world because the way they handle their relations matters a great deal to many other countries. He called on both nations to shoulder their responsibility as major players in the international arena and work together to build a better relationship.