Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Tuesday that he and U.S. President Barack Obama had agreed to improve Sino-U.S. relations and reached consensus on major international and regional issues of common concern.

After nearly two hours of talks, Hu told the press at Beijing's Great Hall of the People that his talks with Obama was "candid, constructive and fruitful."

Standing beside Obama, Hu said China and the United States shared broad common interests and have great potential for future development on a series of major issues concerning peace and development of the mankind.

MORE DIALOGUE

Hu said they agreed to improve dialogue, communication and cooperation from a strategic and far-sighted perspective and to make joint efforts in building a positive, cooperative and comprehensive Sino-U.S. relationship so as to promote global peace, stability and prosperity.

Both China and the United States believed that close high-level contacts and dialogues and consultations at various levels were of great importance to the two countries' relationship, he said.

The two presidents agreed to keep close communication through visits, phone calls, letters and meetings at multilateral occasions, Hu said.

The two leaders also spoke highly of the role of the strategic and economic dialogue mechanism in boosting mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries.

China and the United States would continue implementing the agreements reached at the first round of the dialogue last July in Washington and will start preparations as soon as possible for the second round of the Sino-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) next summer in Beijing, Hu said.

ECONOMIC COOPERATION

The two leaders exchanged views on the current global financial situation and held that despite the positive signs of the global economic recovery, the foundation of the global economic recovery was far from solid.

Hu and Obama agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on macro-economic policies, properly handle trade frictions through negotiations and jointly ensure the bilateral economic and trade ties to develop in a healthy and steady way.

"I stressed to President Obama that under the current situation, our two countries should oppose and resist protectionism in all forms in an even stronger stand," he said.

Hu said both China and the United States appreciated the key role of the G20 summit in coping with the global financial crisis.

"China and the United States would work together with all other members to fully carry out the commitments of all G20 summits and continuously strengthen the role of G20 in the management of the global economy, while pushing forward international financial system reform and improving global economic order to guard against and cope with future crisis," Hu said.

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

The two presidents also agreed to improve cooperation in climate change, energy and environment.

Hu said China and the United States would cooperate with all sides concerned, on the basis of the "common but differentiated responsibilities" principle and their respective capabilities to help produce positive results at next month's Copenhagen summit on climate change.

China and the United States had signed documents of cooperation including a memorandum of understanding on enhancing cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment, and the two countries had formally launched a joint research center on clean energy, he said

Hu said the two leaders also agreed to deepen cooperation on the basis of mutual benefits in areas such as anti-terrorism, law enforcement, science and technology, space exploration, civil aviation, high-speed railway, infrastructure, agriculture and health care.

The two leaders agreed to continue to promote greater development in military relations, Hu said.

Obama and Hu discussed to expand cultural exchanges between the two countries, especially youth exchanges, and supported both sides to set up a cultural exchange mechanism and strengthen cooperation on dispatching exchange students.

NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION

"Both of us remain committed to resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and consultation," said Hu. "Such a commitment serves the common interests of China and the United States and all other parties concerned."

Hu said China and the United States would work with other parties concerned to stick to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the six-party talks process to safeguard peace and stability of the northeast Asia.

The two presidents stressed that it was very important for the stability in the Middle East and the Gulf Region to uphold the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and properly resolve the Iran nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiation, Hu said.

ONE-CHINA POLICY

Hu said the key to Sino-U.S. relationship was to mutually respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns while divergences from different national conditions were normal as the two sides had different country situations.

He said that China appreciated President Obama's support for the one-China policy and the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, and his respect for China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan issue and other matters.

Hu said the two sides had reaffirmed the "cardinal principle" of "mutually respecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity" and voiced opposition to any attempt by any force to violate this principle.

"We have both agreed to conduct dialogues and exchanges on issues including human rights and religion, in the spirit of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, so as to boost understanding, mitigate divergences and broaden consensus," Hu said.

"The Sino-U.S. relationship is very important. Maintaining and promoting the Sino-U.S. relationship is a shared responsibility of both sides," Hu said.

"China is ready to work together with the United States to push forward the continuous, healthy and stable development of the Sino-U.S. relationship to better serve the two countries' peoples and peoples across the world," Hu said.