U.S. President George W. Bush meets with China's President Hu Jintao at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Hanoi November 19, 2006.   Nov. 19 - China and US will hold their first strategic economic dialogue in the middle of next month, said President Hu Jintao in the meeting with US President George W. Bush on Sunday.

 

Hu said that they have already met three times this year, had four telephone conversations and maintained great exchange of letters.

 

"It is fair to say that we had kept very close touch and has vigorously promoted the China-US relations", said Hu, noting he witnessed the new progress in bilateral ties since they met in S. Petersburg of Russia this July.

 

The two countries have maintained frequent exchange of visits at the top levels and different levels, according to Hu.

 

Bilateral trade has also been expanding very rapidly. According to US figures, US exports to China in the first seven months of this year jumped 35 per cent.

 

"Our mechanism for having strategic economic dialogue has also been launched, and the first bilateral talks will be held in Beijing in the middle of next month," said Hu.

 

China's naval ships have paid visit to US for the first time in the six years, and the naval ships of two countries are conducting joint search and rescue maneuvers today (on Sunday) in Chinese waters.

 

"We are happy with the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations," said Hu.

 

Bush said that China and US all realize that working together can accomplish a lot in security in the world and prosperity of the people.

 

"China is a very important nation, US believe that by working together we can solve problems such as North Korea and Iran," said Bush.

 

He admitted there are some problems in bilateral trade, but promised to adopt the spirit of mutual respect to solve problems in the interests of people.