China, US agree on closer cooperation

It's been a very busy morning for Chinese President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart Barack Obama. Both leaders agreed that by working closer together, the two are better able to address many of the world's pressing challenges and to bring more benefits to their peoples.

The welcoming ceremony for the US president and his delegation was held at around 10 am at the Great Hall of the People.

Many senior US officials accompanied Obama for his first state visit to China, including Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke, and the Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu.

After reviewing the guards of honor, the two leaders sat down for a closed-door meeting.

After, they brought together a larger gathering of senior officials from both sides. The two leaders have expressed satisfaction over their talks so far.

Hu Jintao, Chinese President said "Mr. President, this is your first state visit to China. We are delighted to have you here. On behalf of myself, the Chinese government and the people, allow me to extend our warm welcome to you and the US delegation. We've already had a smaller meeting this morning and reached consensus on many aspects."

Afterwards, the two Presidents appeared for a highly-anticipated news conference. Both leaders said they are happy with the strong momentum in the development of the ties.

Hu Jintao said "Both president Obama and I spoke positively of the progress in the bilateral ties since the new US administration took office. We both agreed to develop a strategic, long-term perspective in dialogue and exchange and work together to build a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive China-US relationship. We also agreed to take concrete actions to steadily build a partnership to meet many challenges that we both face."

Also at the news conference, Obama reiterated his administration's adherence to the one-China policy. He also said the US is pleased to see improvements in cross-Straits relations.