"Family Greetings" kicks off Hoao meeting

           Chinese President Hu Jintao met with U.S. President Barack Obama on the afternoon of March 26 in Seoul, South Korea.

         "How's the family doing these days?" As soon as Obama took his seat, he first sent greetings to Hu Jintao. Hu Jintao smiled and said "pretty good" and asked Obama: "How are your wife and children?" Obama then conveyed his family's greetings to Hu Jintao.

           Obama then said the fact that I have met with you 11 times since I became president signifies the importance we place on maintaining a strong U.S.-China relationship.

           The second Nuclear Security Summit was held in Seoul from March 26 to 27, and Hu Jintao and Obama took the opportunity to meet in Seoul. The Seoul Nuclear Security Summit is the largest international summit held in Korea's history to date, with more than 50 national leaders and leaders of international organizations such as the United Nations (microblogging) and the International Atomic Energy Agency in attendance. Therefore, South Korea's entire country is extremely important to the summit, celebrating the success of the summit slogans can be seen everywhere in the streets of South Korea. 

           This time it's all about the nuclear.

           The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the DPRK's announcement of a satellite launch and the current situation on the Korean peninsula. Hu Jintao emphasized that China was concerned and worried about the development of the situation, and called on all parties concerned to focus on the overall situation and the long term, maintain calm and restraint, and resolve the relevant issues appropriately through diplomatic channels and by peaceful means. It is hoped that the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will continue to engage in dialogue, maintain the consensus reached and improve mutual relations. The two sides also exchanged views on Iran, Syria, North and South Sudan and other issues.

          Talking about the yuan again, China stated that it will continue to push forward the exchange rate reform.

          In response to the RMB exchange rate issue, Hu Jintao pointed out during his meeting with Obama that structural problems such as the U.S. trade deficit and unemployment were not caused by the RMB exchange rate, and that even a substantial appreciation of the RMB would not solve the problems facing the U.S. economy.

          Since the reform of the RMB exchange rate formation mechanism in 2005, the real exchange rate of the RMB has appreciated by 30%. Hu Jintao pointed out that China will continue to push forward the reform of the exchange rate formation mechanism of the RMB, give greater play to the adjusting role of market supply and demand, enhance the flexibility of the RMB exchange rate, and keep it basically stable at a reasonable equilibrium level.

          U.S. is addressing export restrictions

          Regarding China-US economic and trade relations, Hu Jintao emphasized that the essence of China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutual benefit and win-win situation, and that some economic and trade frictions occur in the process of expanding and deepening the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, which should be resolved gradually in a cooperative manner in the process of cooperation.

         Hu Jintao said the U.S. easing of restrictions on exports of high-tech products to China is conducive to expanding exports to China, boosting U.S. economic growth and balancing trade between China and the U.S., and expressed the hope that the U.S. side will take practical steps.

         For his part, Obama said that in recent years, the two sides have increased mutual trust and deepened cooperation through a series of high-level exchanges and frank and in-depth communication through mechanisms such as the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and have dealt with differences and frictions in a constructive and effective manner, achieving positive results, with which the U.S. side is satisfied.

          The United States looks forward to strengthening dialogue, coordination and cooperation with China on bilateral and major international and regional issues, and promoting a mutually beneficial and win-win partnership, which is vital to the United States and China, as well as to the world. Obama said that not long ago, the United States and China issued a Joint Fact Sheet on Strengthening the U.S.-China Economic Relationship, proving that the United States and China can promote the two countries' economic and trade cooperation to achieve more results through contact and dialog. The U.S. side is working to solve the problem of U.S. restrictions on exports of high-tech products to China, and welcome Chinese enterprises to expand investment in U.S. infrastructure construction and other areas, and will take more facilitating measures.

          At this point, according to reporters, the U.S. side is indeed moving forward: on 141 items that the Chinese side aspires to import more of and wants to buy from the U.S., the U.S. has indicated that on 46 technologies, all of them can be exported to China, and some of them may not require an export license at all.

         Hu Jintao puts forward 4 suggestions on the development of relations between the two countries

         Hu Jintao said that in the three years since President Obama's inauguration, China-U.S. relations have generally maintained stable development. The two countries have had fruitful coordination and cooperation in important bilateral areas and in addressing major international and regional issues. In particular, the two sides have decided to jointly build a China-US cooperative partnership of mutual respect and mutual benefit, which points out the direction for the long-term development of China-US relations.

Hu Jintao put forward four suggestions on the development of relations between the two countries. First, adhere to the general direction of the partnership and persistently promote the construction of the partnership. The second is to expand pragmatic cooperation of mutual benefit and win-win situation in all aspects, endeavor to create multi-level, broad field and all-round pragmatic cooperation, strengthen cooperation in infrastructure construction and local cooperation, and promote the economic and trade relations between the two countries to develop to a new breadth and depth. Thirdly, to ensure benign interaction between China and the United States in the Asia-Pacific, China respects the presence and legitimate interests of the United States in the Asia-Pacific and welcomes the United States to play a constructive role in regional affairs; it is hoped that the U.S. side will take into full consideration the concerns of China's interests and give them practical respect; the two sides should strengthen communication and dialogue and make efforts to realize win-win cooperation. Fourthly, we should continue to give impetus to China-US relations by adopting a more flexible approach to ensure timely and high-quality strategic communication between the two countries at the senior level. China welcomes the U.S. side's visit to China this year to hold a new round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the High-Level Consultation on Humanitarian Exchanges, and the Strategic Security Dialogue, so as to discuss new consensus and new initiatives for the development of China-U.S. cooperation.