Beijing, China

To the participants of the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue,

Last summer, I was proud to welcome many of you to the White House as our two countries
launched this Strategic and Economic Dialogue.  I want to thank President Hu, Vice Premier
Wang, State Councilor Dai, and the entire Chinese delegation for their hospitality in hosting
this year’s meeting. 

I am pleased that our delegation in Beijing is led by two outstanding members of my Cabinet --
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner -- and that they are
joined by officials from across my Administration. 

As I said when we began this dialogue, 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. Together, we set out to build a positive, constructive, and comprehensive relationship,
and we pledged to cooperate to advance our shared interests.  That is what we have done.

As two of the world’s largest economies, we have worked together, and with our G-20
partners, to sustain the global economic recovery.  During my visit to China last fall, we
forged clean energy partnerships, and at Copenhagen we made important commitments to confront
climate change.

To advance our common security interests, we are cooperating to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons and regional nuclear arms races that would endanger us all.  I was pleased to welcome
President Hu to our Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, and I thank China for its commitment
to establish a center of excellence on nuclear security, which will help achieve our shared
goal of securing vulnerable nuclear materials around the world.

Over the next two days, our two countries have the opportunity to deepen our cooperation even
further and advance the prosperity, health and security of our people.  Together, we can
promote economic growth that is balanced and sustained and trade that is free and fair.  We can
work to fulfill the commitments we made at Copenhagen.  We can address pressing regional and
global security challenges, including strengthening the global nonproliferation regime to
ensure the rights and responsibilities of all nations.  We need to improve communication
between our militaries, which promotes mutual understanding and confidence.

Our two nations may not always agree on every issue, but this dialogue also allows us to
communicate and understand one another better.  This includes America’s abiding commitment to
those human rights that are universal and to the dignity of all people.  Indeed, we welcome our
human rights dialogue with China, which we began this month and which I look forward to
continuing.

Across all these areas, our relationship with China is guided by the recognition that we live
in an interconnected world.  As I said during my visit to China while standing beside President
Hu in the Great Hall where you gather today, one country’s success need not come at the
expense of another.  Our progress can be shared.  Indeed, the United States welcomes China as a
strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations.
 
A truly comprehensive relationship, however, cannot be between governments alone.  It must
also be between our people.  That is why my visit to China included a discussion with young men
and women in Shanghai, and it is why we are working to deepen the ties between Americans and
Chinese through educational and cultural exchanges.     

As you meet in Beijing, the people of Shanghai are hosting the World Expo, which reflects the
strength and creativity of China and its people.  There, at the USA Pavilion, the United States
is proud to showcase the spirit that has always defined our country, including our belief that
we can join with other nations to build a better life for our children.    

This is the spirit that brings our countries together in Beijing and the spirit that must
guide our work as we deepen our positive, constructive, and comprehensive relationship.  Thank
you for participating in this Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and we look forward to welcoming
you to the United States for our meeting next year and to continuing our progress.

Sincerely,
President Barack Obama