China will further optimize its economic structure, deepen reform and welcome more U.S. companies to invest in the country, China's Vice President Han Zheng said on Tuesday in a meeting with former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson.

"China-U.S. relations are the most important bilateral relations in the world today," Han said in talks in Beijing.

He added that China and the U.S. should strengthen cooperation, promote global economic recovery and cope with global challenges. (Reporting by Ella Cao and Bernard Orr)