SAN FRANCISCO - The United States and China will benefit from continued engagement between their economies, a leader of an influential Chinese-American group said here Saturday.

Robert Gee, vice-chairman for the Washington, DC Region of the Committee of 100 (C100), a prominent US organization of Chinese-American leaders from different fields, said a decoupling of the world's two largest economies does not serve their long-term interests.

"By and large, I think that more enlightened thinkers ... agree that it doesn't serve the long-term interest of the United States or China to have our economies uncoupled, because there is greater value that would be created by continuing to have common protocols and common interdependencies in our economic system," he said at a press conference of a C100 meeting.

Gee said that keeping the United States and China together economically would broaden the prospects of peaceful development. The alternative would be nothing more than a "death spiral."

Brian Sun, also a C100 member, said the United States and China should properly address the challenges in their exchanges of science, technology and economic cooperation.

"There are so many entrepreneurs on both sides of the (Pacific) ocean who want to work together," Sun said.

Nearly 300 leaders in science, technology, government, business, education and community affairs from the C100 convened in Silicon Valley to express concern about the impact of US-China tensions and urge the United States to stay open.

At the meeting, they pointed to, among others, a heightened scrutiny of Chinese Americans and people of Chinese descent, especially those who work in science and technology.