Chinese Leader

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Pomp and circumstance mark arrival of Chinese leader

Posted: January 19th, 2011 -- 11:36 AM ET

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CNN Wire Staff

Washington (CNN) - A "positive, constructive, cooperative" U.S.-Chinese relationship is "good" for the United States.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday in a joint news conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Hu and business leaders, Obama called for "a spirit of cooperation" and "healthy competition" between the countries.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden welcomed Hu to the White House in a formal arrival ceremony earlier in the day.

The Chinese leader's limousine pulled up to the White House South Portico shortly after 9 a.m., where he was met with a military honor guard and review -- part of the traditional pomp and circumstance reserved for visiting leaders of major powers.

Hu, who first arrived in the United States Tuesday afternoon, is on a three-day trip focusing on trade, currency and North Korea. Administration officials have used the occasion to highlight economic ties between the two countries, announcing China's approval of $45 billion in new contracts for U.S. companies to export goods to China.

The contracts will support an estimated 235,000 American jobs, according to the White House.

Obama hailed Hu's visit as a chance to lay a foundation for the next 30 years of Sino-American relations.

"At a time when some doubt the benefits of cooperation between the United States and China, this visit is ... a chance to demonstrate a simple truth," Obama said. "We have an enormous stake in each other's success. In an interconnected world, in a global economy, nations -- including our own -- will be more prosperous and more secure when we work together."

Obama also alluded to the importance of human rights -- a traditional point of contention in relations between Washington and Beijing.

"History shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful, and the world is more just, when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all people are upheld, including the universal rights of every human being," he said.

Hu declared the relationship between the two powers to be one of "strategic significance and global influence."

Under "new circumstances, and in the face of new challenges, China and the United States share broad common interests and important common responsibilities," he said.

"Our cooperation as partners should be based on mutual respect," he added. "China and the United States should respect each other's choice of development path and each other's core interests."

Obama will host a formal state dinner for Hu on Wednesday evening, the conclusion of a long day including bilateral talks and the joint news conference.

While in Washington, Hu will stress the importance of a comprehensive partnership between the two nations to help ensure stability worldwide, Chinese state media reported, despite their differences on issues such as human rights and currency controls.

In addition to Obama, the Chinese leader is scheduled to meet with top legislators and business executives, and then visit Chicago.

The list of corporate executives who met with Obama and Hu at the White House on Wednesday included Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, HSBC's John Thornton, Intel's Paul Otellini, Motorola's Greg Brown, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, GE's Jeff Immelt, and Boeing's Jim McNerny.

American automakers were absent from the invite list, despite their push to capture market share in China's booming auto industry.

Hu attended a small dinner at the White House Tuesday evening with Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon.

The dinner provided "a bit of an informal setting in which to have some of these discussions," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Wednesday's state dinner will be the third such event held during the Obama administration.

The last White House state dinner for China was 13 years ago, when President Bill Clinton welcomed President Jiang Zemin and his wife, Wang Yeping, in October 1997.

Before Hu's arrival, U.S. legislators and demonstrators criticized China's human rights record, including political repression, and called for Obama to press the issue in his talks with the Chinese leader.

"It is more important to honor and remember those who cannot attend this State Dinner rather than those who will be in attendance," the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said in a statement.

"While the guests are dining on expensive and extravagant food there will be scores who will be oppressed and placed behind bars by the Chinese government because of their faith and political beliefs; people like Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo who is in prison."

Gibbs said that Obama would raise human rights concerns with Hu.

"Obviously, that is a topic of some significance that the two leaders will talk about," Gibbs told reporters. "We will continue to have difficult conversations" with China on the subject.

This week's meeting between the leaders of the world's two largest economies also put the spotlight on criticism that the government-controlled People's Bank of China artificially undervalues the yuan, bringing down the cost of Chinese exports, which would give it an advantage in the international market.

Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China must do more to address its undervalued currency and dependence on exports, adding that such a move is in Beijing's best interest because it will control inflation.

Senate Democrats this week renewed their push to crack down on countries that manipulate their currencies, with China clearly in their crosshairs.

A bill introduced Monday by New York Sen. Charles Schumer and two other Democrats would impose penalties, including possible tariffs, on nations that manipulate their currencies.

The senators told reporters in a conference call that China's currency and trade polices undercut U.S. manufacturers and are costing American jobs.

"China's currency is like a boot on the throat of America's economic recovery," Schumer said.

But Hu has dismissed the argument that price stability is a reason for yuan appreciation, telling The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal that Chinese inflation is "moderate and controllable."

CNN's Alan Silverleib, Ben Rooney, Tom Cohen and Aaron Smith contributed to this report.