Hu, Obama Meet in Hawaii on Bilateral Ties

HONOLULU - President Hu Jintao said it's "all the more important" for China to enhance communication and coordination with the United States against the backdrop of complicated world situation in a meeting with his US counterpart on Saturday.

Hu said the Asia-Pacific region, which has the greatest vitality and potential of development in the world, should be an important area for active China-US cooperation.

Hu made the remarks in the meeting with US President Barack Obama during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting over the weekend.

This is their ninth meeting since Obama assumed office in early 2009, shortly after the one at the G20 summit held in France earlier this month.

Hu said the world is experiencing complicated changes with increasing uncertainty, instability in economic recovery and projecting regional security threats.

China calls for enhanced communication and coordination with the US, and maintain dialogue and cooperative partnership with the US to properly settle sensitive issues, Hu said.

Obama said it's the first time that he and Hu met and had comprehensive discussions this year after Hu's state visit to the US in January.

They would talk about bilateral trade economy, regional security and other issues including climate change, Obama said.

Obama said although there are areas the two countries will continue to have differences, he has confidence that bilateral ties will develop in a constructive way based on mutual respect and benefit.

Obama said as two largest economies in the world, the cooperation between China and US is not only important to the two countries but also to the whole world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

He said many countries in the region also want a stable China-US tie, which is a basis for continuous growth and prosperity.

China and the US now stand as each other's second largest trade partner, with trade volume rising 150 times to $385 billion in 2010 since they established diplomatic ties in 1979.

The US continues to be the No.1 source of foreign direct investment for China, and China has become the biggest foreign creditor for the US.

Hu arrived in Honolulu with other Asia-Pacific leaders to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting over the weekend.