President Obama's Bilateral Meeting with President Xi of China

Remarks by President Obama and President Xi of the People's Republic of China Before Bilateral Meeting

G20 Summit Site
St. Petersburg, Russia

9:46 A.M. MSK
 
PRESIDENT XI:  (As interpreted.)  Honorable President Obama, it’s my great pleasure to meet you again.  Our meeting today reminds me of the meeting we had this past June when we met in the Annenberg Estate.  In that meeting, we reached important consensus of mutual interest in our bilateral relationship.  In particular, we agreed once again to building a new model of major country relationship between China and the United States.  
 
The Annenberg Estate is a beautiful and quiet place, and I still have fresh memories of your warm hospitality.  So I take this opportunity to thank you again for hosting me.
 
Since we met last time, our two teams have worked closely together to implement a consensus we have reached.  The fifth round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue produced bountiful results.  Our mil-to-mil relationship continues to improve.  We have made solid progress in advancing practical cooperation in many different areas, and we have maintained close communication and coordination of major international and regional issues.
 
In my view, the China-U.S. relationship has maintained a sound momentum of development.
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, Mr. President, thank you for hosting us, and it is a pleasure to see you again. 
 
As President Xi indicated, we had excellent meetings in Sunnylands earlier this year.  And we agreed to continue to build a new model of great power relations based on practical cooperation and constructively managing our differences. 
 
As has been indicated, we’ve made significant progress on a range of issues, whether it’s cooperation on addressing climate change, expanded military-to-military consultations that ensure awareness and avoid potential conflicts or miscommunications.  And we’ve had some extensive discussions through the Strategic and Economic Dialogue about how we can continue to grow the economy and give some momentum to global growth that creates jobs, prosperity, and balanced growth around the world.
 
So this gives us an additional opportunity to discuss some of the topics at issue here at the G20, as well as our mutual interest in addressing some significant global challenges, such as the challenge posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. 
 
And although there will continue to be some significant disagreements and sources of tension, I’m confident that they can be managed.  And I want to reiterate that the United States welcomes the continuing peaceful rise of China and is interested in a China that is playing a stable and prosperous and responsible role, not only in the Asia Pacific but around the world.
 
END
9:52 A.M. MSK

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