Obama, Hu open key talks in Beijing

CHINA: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday launched into the formal business of his visit to China, sitting down with his opposite number Hu Jintao to discuss trade tensions and US calls for a stronger yuan.

Their talks follow Obama’s town hall-style meeting with students in Shanghai on Monday where he acknowledged difficulties in China-US ties but said the world’s number one and three economies need not be adversaries. “I look forward to having an in-depth relationship,” Hu told Obama at the start of their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, following a formal welcome ceremony complete with a military honour guard and brass band.

“We believe strong dialogue is important not only for the US and China, but for the rest of the world,” Obama replied.

Trade seems likely to top the agenda following a series of tit-for-tat moves in recent months that has sparked angry accusations from Beijing that the United States is engaging in blatant protectionism. Beijing, Tuesday, AFP