Obama visit to take China-US ties to new level: Wen Jiabao

BEIJING - The visit of US President Barack Obama to China was of far-reaching significance, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here Wednesday and expressed the hope that it would take the China-US relationship to “a new level”.

“It is my sincere hope that your current visit will lift the comprehensive and cooperative China-US relations to a new level,” Wen told Obama at their meeting in the State Guesthouse in Beijing, Xinhua news agency reported.

US President Barack Obama arrived in Beijing Monday after telling Chinese youths in Shanghai that the US does not seek to contain China’s rise and that the country was a “strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations”.

Obama is in China on a four-day state visit. He arrived in Shanghai Sunday night.

Calling US-China relations “positive, constructive and comprehensive”, Obama said Tuesday that the relationship opens the door to partnership on key global issues such as economic recovery, development of clean energy, stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and the surge of climate change, and the promotion of peace and security in Asia and around the globe.

He said the US and China were not “predestined adversaries”, as the two countries “share much in common” while “are different in certain ways”.

China is a part of Obama’s Asian tour, following his visit to Japan and Singapore. He is slated to leave Beijing for South Korea Wednesday afternoon.