Obama offers free trade to China

US: US President Barack Obama Tuesday tried to reassure Chinese President Hu Jintao he was "firmly committed" to free trade, after triggering a major dispute by slapping tariffs on Chinese tire imports.

Obama also made a "forceful" presentation on Iran's nuclear program, and asked China, a UN Security Council permanent member, to work with Washington on the issue as it had on North Korea's atomic program, a senior official said.

Hu and Obama met for the second time, following their initial meeting in London in April, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and days before the G20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. "I am committed to pursuing a genuinely cooperative and comprehensive relationship with China," Obama said during a photo-op ahead of the meeting at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.

NEW YORK, Wednesday, AFP