Readout of the President's Meeting with the Co-Chairs of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue

The President and the U.S. delegation met today in the Oval Office with China’s Special Representatives to the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo. They exchanged views on a broad range of economic, security and other issues of importance to both countries. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to building a cooperative partnership that is comprehensive in scope, cooperative in nature, and yields positive achievements that benefit our people. They agreed that concrete actions by both sides are needed to build such a partnership. The President encouraged China to implement policies that support sustained and balanced global growth as well as a more balanced bilateral economic relationship. They also discussed ways to advance our common nonproliferation objectives, including working together to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, to meet its international commitments and to avoid destabilizing behavior. The President underscored his preference for a diplomatic solution to both challenges. The President raised U.S. concerns about the current human rights situation in China, and underscored his support for the universal rights of freedom of expression and worship, and of access to information and political participation.