The United States and China must avoid "old paths of confrontation and conflict," Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said Tuesday at the start of key bilateral talks.

The United States and China must avoid "old paths of confrontation and conflict," Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said Tuesday at the start of key bilateral talks.

Speaking unusually frankly at the opening of the talks in the US State Department, Wang admitted that "on some issues consensus still eludes us," but he stressed that "dialogue is always more preferable than confrontation."