Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the United States and China need to recognize their mutual global concerns and responsibilities and ensure greater fairness in trade and investment conditions.

Biden brought a strong message of mutual interdependence on his visit to the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu on the final day of a five-day visit to the world's second-largest economy and a key U.S. trading partner.

"The more we can work together, the more our people can benefit ... the more the world can benefit," Biden told students in a speech at Sichuan University.

Biden emphasized the frequent exchanges between President Barack Obama and China's Hu Jintao along with government officials in the political and economic field. He said there needed to be more exchanges between their civilian and military leaders over security issues, especially on cybersecurity and maritime issues where the sides view matters from different perspectives.

"The fact is, China and the United States face many of the same threats and share many of the same objectives and responsibilities," Biden said. "Our generals should be talking to each other as frequently as our diplomats."

Biden said both countries need global stability, which includes preventing Iran and North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons. He also reasserted that the U.S. will remain a Pacific nation in future, saying that the American presence had benefited regional stability and allowed China to focus on economic development.

"Asia and the United States are not separated by this great ocean. We are bound by it," he said.

Biden said he recognized frustrations among many Chinese businessmen and officials at the length of time needed to obtain visas to visit the U.S. and said Washington was working on improvements.

But he said U.S. companies continue to face major investment barriers in China, a frequent complaint among the business community here. He said U.S. businesses were locked out of entire fields and face "restrictions that no other major economy imposes on us or so broadly."

Biden also looked to reassure his audience over the security of China's $1.2 trillion in U.S. Treasury debt following the downgrading of America's credit rating. He said Chinese and U.S. prosperity was key to reviving the global economy.

"We're the two biggest engines in the world to be able to do that," he said.

Biden was to spend the rest of the day Sunday visiting sites with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, who is expected to become the country's next leader.