A NEW GOAL, ATTRACTIVE WORDING

In the press conference at the Great Hall of People, Hu said he and Obama were positive about the development of the China-U.S. relationship since the inauguration of the new U.S. administration11 months ago, and they agreed to strengthen dialogue, communication and cooperation from a strategic and far-sighted perspective, and to make joint efforts to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-U.S. relationship to promote world peace, stability and prosperity.
Obama said the partnership with China had helped his country to fight the most serious financial crisis seen in generations.
He added that the China-U.S. relationship had never been more important to the common future of the two countries. Challenges like climate change, nuclear proliferation, or economic recovery could never be met with a single hand.
"That's why the United States welcomes China's efforts in playing a greater role on the world stage, a role in which a growing economy is joined by growing responsibilities."
Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the International Studies School at China's Renmin University, told Xinhua the new goal for the China-U.S. relationship was to build a partnership to jointly cope with common challenges that was quite positive and significant.
Fu Mengzi, director of the Institute of American Studies under the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told Xinhua the partnership to combat common challenges had positive and new meanings.
David Shambaugh, a George Washington University professor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the outcome of the summit "reflects the 30 years of hard work in building the relationship, as As one of the topics of the meeting between Hu and Obama, facing global challenges together has obtained great attention.
Fu said the challenges not only included those related to both parties, but also those concerned with global interests.
The China-U.S. Joint Statement stressed that, with global challenges increasing, the interdependence of all countries in the world had deepened and their need for peace, development and cooperation had increased.
On numerous critical issues concerned with global stability and prosperity, China and the United States have a broader basis for cooperation and shoulder more important common responsibilities.
The two countries should further enhance coordination and cooperation, jointly cope with common challenges and make efforts to promote peace, security and prosperity in the world.
Jin said focusing on global issues during the meeting demonstrated the global characteristic of China-U.S. relationship that had gone far beyond bilateral ties. Both parties were seeking more areas for cooperation, he said.
Shambaugh told Xinhua the joint statement released on Nov. 17 was an extremely positive document -- filled with countless examples of tangible Sino-American cooperation on a large range of bilateral, regional, and global issues.
Mainichi Shimbun, a major daily in Japan, reported that both parties agreed on deepening China-U.S. relations in a new era, which symbolized the bilateral ties had entered a new phase of development.
Obama said at the press conference that the United States welcomed China as a "strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations." This gave the impression that both countries had entered a new era of cooperation on global issues, the newspaper said.
Japan's Kyodo News reported that the Chinese and U.S. presidents agreed to cooperate on a plethora of critical issues, including climate change and nuclear non-proliferation.
Differences on issues such as human rights and trade imbalances were not obvious, which demonstrated that both sides had put intensifying bilateral ties as a priority, the news agency said. well as the growing strategic trust between the two sides."
He said both sides were actively committed to develop a "positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship in the 21st century," and a joint statement issued after the meeting between the two presidents may help take China-U.S. relations into a "totally new and positive era."

Mainland to push normalization of economic relations with Taiwan: official

XI'AN, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland official on Taiwan affairs said here Thursday that the mainland would work actively for "normalization" of economic relations with Taiwan.
Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said at a conference on cross-Strait cooperation in trade and science held in the northwestern Shaanxi Province that the priority of economic relations between the two sides at present and in the next stage is to negotiate and sign the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
Wang said experts from the mainland and Taiwan have basically completed joint research on the ECFA.
"The results show that signing the agreement would produce positive impact on the economic development of both sides, especially that of Taiwan," said Wang.
He said results of the joint research would be made public "at a selected time", so as to further pave the way for negotiations "under the framework of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF)."
The ARATS and the SEF are authorized by the two sides to handle cross-Strait issues.
Wang also vowed to push for more cooperation in science, technology and new industries. "We would speed up two-way flow and reasonable distribution of productive factors across the Taiwan Strait, as the two sides have complementary advantages."
He also expressed willingness to continue to seek solutions to problems in trade, investment and finance under the framework of the ARATS and the SEF, which are to hold a fourth round of talks in Taiwan in December.

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall was the second sightseeing program for Obama during his visit to China. He toured the Imperial Palace Tuesday after nearly two hours of talks with President Hu Jintao.
Built originally as the biggest defense work in ancient China, the Great Wall today has become one of the must-see places for visiting foreign leaders to the country in the past six decades.
The Badaling section, which is in the northwestern suburb of Beijing, runs about 3,741 meters on a mountain of about 700 to 800 meters above sea level, dotted with 19 beacon towers.
The wall at the Badaling section averages seven to eight meters in height, six to seven meters in thickness, with a width of four to five meters on top.
Over the past six decades, more than 450 heads of state and government have visited the Badaling section.
The Great Wall is listed among the UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage sites given its historic status.
Separated sections of the Great Wall were built as early as 2,000 years ago by small kingdoms to defend against raids from nomadic tribes to the north.
When Emperor Qinshihuang, the country's first emperor, united China for the first time in 221 B.C., he ordered the separate sections linked together, forming a complete military defense system. "I'm inspired by the majesty of the Great Wall and am grateful for the warmth of the Chinese people," Obama wrote on the visitor's book after his half-hour tour.
The Great Wall today was mostly rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644).
With its sections stretching from northeast to west China, the Great Wall now runs 6,700 kilometers long and its section at Badaling is the first part that opens to tourists

U.S. President Barack

BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama begins his first state visit to China on Sunday at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao. The following is a brief profile of the U.S. preside.Born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama spent part of his childhood in the BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama had a taste of Chinese history on Wednesday by visiting the country's most iconic site, the Great Wall.
"It's magical," Obama said when walking along the Great Wall in chilly winter wind. "It reminds you of the sweep of history and our time here on earth is not that long. We better make the best of it."
Dressed in a dark winter jacket, a smiling Obama broke away from companions and walked alone along the ramp.
"I brought back the admiration for the Chinese civilization, I bring here the greetings of American People," Obama said when ascending a watchtower to enjoy a distant view at the Badaling section of the Great Wall.
Obama is the fifth U.S. president to visit the manmade wonder. Former U.S. President Richard Nixon visited the Great Wall in 1972,Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Bill Clinton in 1998. In 2002, former U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura toured the same section as Obama did. Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
After graduation from high school, he attended Occidental College in California. Two years later, he transferred to Columbia University in New York, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations and received his bachelor's degree in 1983.
He entered Harvard Law School in 1988 and obtained his doctor's degree in 1991. After graduation, he worked in a law firm in Chicago where he practiced civil rights law and taught the Constitution at the University of Chicago.
As a Democrat, Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He was elected in the congressional elections in 2004 as a U.S. senator. He won the presidential election in 2008 and was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009.
Obama married Michelle Robinson in 1992. They have two daughters

China's economy gains on domestic demand

BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- China has made remarkable achievements in the past decade thanks to its huge trade surplus and now it turns to gain momentum from domestic demand, Jim O'Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, said Monday.
O'Neil, who first dubbed China, India, Russia and Brazil "Bric" in 2001, told Xinhua that China could be "the largest economy in the world" in 2027 with its GDP of 21 trillion U.S. dollars, and its consumption could be 10 trillion dollars, or nearly 50 percent of the whole GDP.
He said Goldman Sachs expects China's GDP to increase by 9.4 percent and its domestic demand up 13.3 percent this year, and in 2010 both figures could be even bigger.
However, the average growth rate of China's GDP between 2011-2020 is estimated at 7.7 percent, and gradually scales down in the next few decades, O'Neil said citing a Goldman Sachs report during a news conference.
When asked about serious challenges that could hinder China's economic growth, O'Neill said domestic demand was so important that China should continue to put in more effort. He said a sophisticated social security system was another priority.
Helen Qiao, a China economist with Goldman Sachs, said it could take a long time for China's economic structure to redress the balance.
"China's savings rate could decline 5 percentage points by 2015,and another 12 percentage points from 2015 to 2025. It represents a good sign for the increase of consumption," Qiao mentioned in her report: Outlook on Global and China's Macroeconomy.
Statistics showed that in 2008 China's GDP ranked third after the United States and Japan. And China's contribution to global economic growth amounted to 22 percent, surpassing the United States to be the world's No. 1. The figure was expected to be 50 percent this year.

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has predicted that the Chinese economy would grow by 8 percent in 2005, saying a restrictive economic policy would lead to a slowdown.
"After a period of rapid expansion that continued to the beginning of 2004, economic activity marked its step in the middleof the year to get energy at the second semester," said the OECD in a twice-yearly outlook report published on Nov 30.
According to the OECD, despite restrictive government credit policy to companies, the production was taken to a rise.
"Following the initial disruption from these measures, companies appear to have found ways to moderate the impact of the administrative actions and output growth has recovered sharply," it said.
The organization said the tiny rise of interest rate at the endof October announced by the Chinese central bank will have little impact when effective interest rate following the credit rationingis higher than official rates.
It forecast a continuous inflation due to hike in foods' and raw materials' prices and put it at 4.0 percent in 2005 and 2006 compared with 4.2 percent this year.
The OECD predicted that the value of oil imports is expected to increase by almost two percent of GDP between 2003 and 2005, adding a restrictive economic policy in addition to oil prices' hike would lead to a slowdown of production growth.
It added that China remained competitive due to its stable exchange rate, flat unit labor costs and the removal of textile quotas next year.
The OECD also noted that an abrupt slowdown in bank lending had"disrupted the provision of working capital and could lead to a greater than expected rundown in inventories and hence output which might set off downward revision of industrial investment plans

China's central bank

China's central bank announced on Dec.1 it will allow travellers to take up to 20,000 yuan (US$2,400) of local currency out of the country.
The last time the nation raised the limit on renminbi's cross-border flow was 1993, when the ceiling was set at 6,000 yuan (US$720).
The new rule comes into effect next month.
During the past 10 years, China's economy grew rapidly, consumption levels among local residents improved continuously, and economic ties with foreign countries broadened significantly.
That, coupled with the stability in the renminbi's exchange rate, has amplified the demand for the Chinese currency in neighbouring countries and regions, a spokesman from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said.
"It is necessary to adjust the limit on taking renminbi across borders," he said.
"We view this move as a positive, albeit small, step forward in the process of removing foreign exchange controls and opening-up the economy," said Liang Hong, China economist at Goldman Sachs (Asia).
"Besides Chinese consumers, the main beneficiaries of this policy change will include Hong Kong and Macao consumer related industries, including banks, as Chinese tourists visiting these economies will be able to legally bring more cash to spend," she added.
China's sustained and rapid economic growth in recent years has raised the publicity of its currency in neighbouring nations and regions, making it a major settlement currency for border trade with nations like Russia, the Republic of Mongolia and Viet Nam.
And only the new ceiling can meet the overseas spending needs of the majority of increasingly wealthy Chinese travellers, the PBOC spokesman said, adding that average spending by local residents more than tripled since 1993.
Economists largely ruled out possibilities that the move is aimed at reducing the persistent upward pressure on renminbi, or any attempt to promote the regionalization or internationalization of the local currency.
"Policy changes to allow easier currency outflows will have limited, if any, impact towards easing the Chinese yuan appreciation pressures at the present," Liang said.
"The purpose is to meet the needs of local residents and economic exchanges within the region," said Qin Chijiang, a professor with the Central University of Finance and Economics. "I don't think there is any special political motive."
Qin underlined the need to build bilateral mechanisms with neighbouring countries and regions to channel the renminbi back to China.
The PBOC spokesman said there is only a tiny possibility that the loosening will have any negative impact on the Chinese economy, citing the small share of overseas-circulating renminbi in the total money supply and the arrangements with Hong Kong, Macao and some neighbouring countries on flowing the renminbi back home