BEIJING - China hopes to address bilateral trade issues with the United States in a constructive manner and by way of making a bigger cake of cooperation, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

Spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks when asked for comment on the latest announcement of the US, which pressed China to cut its trade surplus with the US by $100 billion.

"We will never accept those rules unilaterally imposed by any country," said Lu, adding that China has always abided by the rule-based multilateral trading system with WTO at its core and has complied with bilateral and multilateral trade and investment arrangements reached with relevant countries.

"China-US economic and trade relations have proved to be reciprocal in essence and have brought huge benefits to the peoples and business communities of both countries in the past 40 years, including providing both with a huge market and plenty of job opportunities," said the spokesman. "I don't believe such relations would have lasted till this day if they had only benefited the Chinese side."

"The two sides have properly resolved their trade differences in a constructive manner over the past 40 years. We believe the two countries can still settle their disputes through friendly negotiations, and we are ready to do so," Lu said.

He also stressed that China is ready to safeguard its rights and interests should anything unwanted happens.