Confronting US & China Relations Head On

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2009 -- President Obama today kicked off senior-level talks in Washington between the United States and rising world power China to tackle economic and foreign policy issues.

"The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world. That reality must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility that together we bear," the president said this morning at the Ronald Reagan Building in the nation's capital.

Over the next two days, the U.S. side of the Strategic & Economic Dialogue with China will be led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Geithner said that the countries' cooperation in confronting the global recession was a "turning point" in their relationship.

"Our joint response to the global financial crisis marks a turning point in our cooperation with China on global challenges," said the Treasury boss. "This crisis will be remembered not only for its severity and global reach, but also for the speed and strength of the international response. The actions taken by the United States and China have made a very substantial contribution to our collective success in blunting the force of this economic recession and beginning to restore confidence."

"At this moment of crisis, we acted together," he said.

"At present the world economy is at a critical moment of moving out of crisis and toward recovery," said Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan.

One point of emphasis for U.S. officials will be making it clear to the Chinese that they should not count on U.S. consumer spending to help rescue their export-heavy economy from recession .

As some $15 trillion in U.S. household wealth has been lost during the 18-month long recession, consumers have been saving more money and spending far less. In turn, U.S. officials want more Chinese domestic spending as a way to boost economic growth worldwide.