THE TELEGRAPH: US President Barack Obama said the US and China will "shape the course of the 21st century" as he opened high-level talks in Washington.
To the satisfaction of the Chinese at talks designed to usher in a new era of friendship, "not confrontation", Mr Obama said that the ties between the two powers were "as important as any bilateral relationship in the world".
"That reality must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility we bear," he said at the first meeting of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington.
In recognition of the importance of the two-day summit it has been described by analysts in the US as the "G2", after the G8 and G20 gatherings.
Mr Obama said he was under "no illusions that the United States and China will agree on every issue", but insisted closer co-operation on a range of challenges from lifting the global economy to nuclear proliferation and climate change was vital for the whole world.
In what appeared to be a co-ordinated new slogan, both Mr Obama and Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, who sent a message to the meeting, said they sought a "positive, constructive, and comprehensive relationship".
The talks are a revamped version of a meeting launched by George W Bush that focused solely on economic issues.
The new dialogue, to be held every year in alternate capitals, involves the US state department and Chinese foreign ministry and firmly underlines China's growing global footprint.
Beijing sent 150 officials to Washington for dozens of meetings with their US counterparts, bringing much of the capital to a virtual standstill.
The Chinese are still sensitive about their inferior status and pushed hard for Mr Obama to open the meeting, according to sources close to the administration, because "they are still looking for validation".
But the hosts were happy to pay tribute to China's ascendance and were optimistic about its ability to act as a responsible member of the global community.
Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, made only brief reference to China's poor human rights record, which used to loom much larger in discussions. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, July 27, 2009
