China and the United States began their fourth round of strategic dialogue in Washington on Wednesday and both sides are expected to have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte co-chaired the two-day event.

This dialogue mechanism, which is built in accordance with the consensus reached in 2004 between Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President George W. Bush, is an important platform for the two countries to communicate on strategic and political level. The previous dialogue was held in Beijing in November last year.