WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama discussed the U.S.-Chinese relationship during a telephone call Friday with President Hu Jintao, the White House said.
Both Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs and Xinhua, the official Chinese news service, characterized the call as friendly. Xinhua said that the two presidents exchanged invitations and agreed to meet at the Group of 20 talks in April in London.
The topics covered included cooperation on North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, counter-terrorism, proliferation and global warming. Obama thanked China for chairing the six-party talks on North Korea.
Obama and Hu also discussed the global economic crisis. Gibbs said that Obama emphasized needing to correct the global trade imbalance, which could be a touchy subject since China, until the downturn, had enjoyed years of economic growth based on exports.
