Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Sino-U.S. relations and global issues during their meeting on November 17 in Beijing and the two countries issued a joint statement after the talks.

Following are the highlights of the joint statement and speeches by President Hu and President Obama in the talks and the meeting with the press:

Hu to visit U.S. next year

Joint Statement: President Obama invited President Hu to make a visit to the United States next year, and President Hu accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Hu: Both sides have agreed to strengthen 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.

Obama: We meet here at a time when the relationship between the United States and China has never been more important to our collective future. The major challenges of the 21st Century, from climate change to nuclear proliferation to economic recovery, are challenges that touch both our nations and challenges that neither of our nations can solve by acting alone.

Economic recovery

Joint Statement: The two sides pledged to rebalance each other's economy and move in tandem on forward-looking monetary polices for a strong and durable global economic recovery.

Hu: I stressed to President Obama that under the current situation, both China and the United States should oppose and resist protectionism in all forms in an even stronger stand.

Obama: It is a strategy where America saves more, spends less, reduces our long-term debt and where China makes adjustments across a broad range of policies to rebalance its economy and spur domestic demand. This will lead to increased U.S. exports and jobson the one hand and higher living standards in China on the other.

Climate change

Joint Statement: China and the United States are committed to working together and with other countries for a successful outcome at Copenhagen summit next month.

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

Obama: There will be no solution to climate change without the efforts of both China and the United States, the two largest producers and consumers of energy.

Nuclear non-proliferation

Joint Statement: China and the United States underlined their commitment to the eventual realization of a world free of nuclear weapons.

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

Obama: We appreciate China's support in global non-proliferation efforts and in the verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons program on the Korean Peninsula. We agreed on the importance of resuming the six-party talks as soon as possible.

Core interest

Joint Statement: The two sides reiterated that the fundamental principle of respect for each other' sovereignty and territorial integrity is at the core of the three Sino-US joint communiques which guide China-US relations. Neither side supports any attempts by any force to undermine this principle. The two sides agreed that respecting each other' s core interests is extremely important to ensure steady progress in China-US relations.

Hu: I hope that the United States would properly handle the Taiwan issue and forbid "Tibet independence" and "East Turkistan" forces from using U.S. territory to cover their anti-China separatist activities.

Obama: The United States respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and has reaffirmed its strong commitment to a one-China policy.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2009)