U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao lifted glasses at a White House state dinner Wednesday night, with Obama saying that "while it's easier to focus on our differences of culture and perspective, let us never forget the values that our people share."
"A reverence for family, the belief that with education and hard work and sacrifice, the future is what we make of it and, most of all, our desire to give our children a better life," Obama said, enumerating what he called common values between the U.S. and China in toasting Hu.
Hu, toasting Obama at the first formal state dinner for China in more than 13 years, praised the U.S. president for bringing the two countries closer together.
"In recent years, particularly over the last two years since President Obama took office, China-U.S. relations have made strong headway," Hu said. "We have increased exchanges in cooperation in a wide range of areas, maintained close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, and played a positive role in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region and the whole world."
Hu said that he had reached "important agreement" with Obama during his visit.
"We agreed that our two countries should increase contacts at the top and other levels, strengthen strategic mutual trust through dialogue and communication, intensify exchanges and cooperation in all fields, and step up communication and coordination on international and regional issues," he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Obama and Hu met behind closed doors at the White House for several hours as top officials from both countries worked to address a range of issues tied to the global economic crisis, international security, the environment and human rights.
Obama administration officials used the president's meeting with Hu to highlight economic progress between the two countries, announcing Beijing's approval of $45 billion in new contracts for U.S. companies to export goods to China. The contracts will support an estimated 235,000 American jobs, according to the White House.
The two leaders acknowledged continuing differences on human rights, but they pledged to keep working on such issues in a "frank and candid way," according to Obama.
Hu, who started his three-day trip to the United States on Tuesday afternoon, was treated to a military honor guard and review at the White House -- part of the traditional pomp and circumstance reserved for visiting leaders of major powers.
Obama hailed Hu's visit as a chance to lay a foundation for the next 30 years of Sino-American relations.
"At a time when some doubt the benefits of cooperation between the United States and China, this visit is ... a chance to demonstrate a simple truth," Obama said. "We have an enormous stake in each other's success. In an interconnected world, in a global economy, nations -- including our own -- will be more prosperous and more secure when we work together."
Hu declared the relationship between the two powers to be one of "strategic significance and global influence."
Under "new circumstances, and in the face of new challenges, China and the United States share broad common interests and important common responsibilities," he said. "Our cooperation as partners should be based on mutual respect," he added. "China and the United States should respect each other's choice of development path and each other's core interests."
The formal state dinner for Hu on Wednesday evening is the third such occasion of his administration. Among the 225 dignitaries who attended were former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger; Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; actor Jackie Chan; Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire; and designer Vera Wang. Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang were to provide entertainment after the dinner.
The last White House state dinner for China was in October 1997, when Clinton welcomed President Jiang Zemin and his wife, Wang Yeping.
At the request of Hu, Wednesday night's menu was an all-American feast that featured last summer's harvest of honey and produce from the White House's kitchen garden.
While Hu was at the White House, he joined Obama in a meeting with key business leaders. The list of corporate executives taking part in the discussion included Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, HSBC's John Thornton, Intel's Paul Otellini, Motorola's Greg Brown, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, GE's Jeff Immelt and Boeing's Jim McNerney.
American automakers were absent from the invitation list, despite their push to capture market share in China's booming auto industry.
Hu later met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden at the State Department. He is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders on Thursday before heading to Chicago.
The Chinese leader attended a small dinner at the White House Tuesday evening with Obama, Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon.
The dinner provided "a bit of an informal setting in which to have some of these discussions," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
During a news conference with reporters Wednesday, Obama said he had received a promise from Hu to establish a more "level playing field" for U.S. trade. China's currency, Obama said, remains undervalued -- a key factor in America's trade imbalance with Beijing.
The two countries need to develop a "win-win situation as opposed to a win-lose situation," he said.
Hu conceded that key differences remain over economic policy, but he promised that Beijing would continue making attempts to resolve those differences.
Obama noted that he and Hu agreed on the need to reduce tension on the Korean peninsula and prevent further provocations from Pyongyang. A Korean peninsula with no nuclear weapons remains a key goal for both leaders, Obama stressed.
Human rights remained a key sticking point for the two men. The United States has objected for decades to, among other things, China's handling of Tibet and political dissidents such as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who remains in prison.
Obama on Wednesday defended his administration's decision to engage with China despite those differences, pointing out that "China has a different political system than we do" and is at a "different stage of development."
"I have been very candid with President Hu about these issues," Obama told reporters, and "occasionally, they are a source of tension."
But "we can engage and discuss these issues in a frank and candid way," he said.
Hu defended his country's human rights record, arguing that "China recognizes and also respects the universality of human rights." At the same time, he said, it is important to account for "different national circumstances."
"We will continue our efforts to improve the lives of the Chinese people" and promote "democracy and the rule of law," he said. At the same time, Beijing is willing to engage with Washington on the basis of "mutual respect" and the principle of "noninterference" in domestic affairs.
Obama dismissed a reporter's question about U.S. fear of China's rising power, saying that China's explosive economic growth is good for the world and, more specifically, American businesses.
We want to sell China "all kinds of stuff," he said.
"We welcome China's rise," Obama said. Washington just wants to ensure it "reinforces international norms and international rules, and enhances security and peace as opposed to ... being a source of conflict."
While the meeting dealt with a range of topics, U.S. officials continued to focus intensely on the fact that the government-controlled People's Bank of China is artificially undervaluing the yuan, bringing down the cost of Chinese exports, which would give it an advantage in the international market.
Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China must do more to address its undervalued currency and dependence on exports, adding that such a move is in Beijing's best interest because it would control inflation.
Senate Democrats this week renewed their push to crack down on countries that manipulate their currencies, with China clearly in their crosshairs.
A bill introduced Monday by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and two other Democrats would impose penalties, including possible tariffs, on nations that manipulate their currencies.
The senators told reporters in a conference call that China's currency and trade polices undercut U.S. manufacturers and are costing American jobs.
Hu has dismissed the argument that price stability is a reason for yuan appreciation, telling the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal that Chinese inflation is "moderate and controllable."
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