China's Hu calls for stable ties with US

Trying to smooth over recently rocky relations before he visits Washington, Chinese President Hu Jintao told aides to U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday that he wants to see healthy and stable ties between the two countries.

The meeting between Hu and a White House economic policy official and deputy national security adviser was unusual because the Chinese president rarely meets with visitors ranked lower in diplomatic protocol. It underscored Hu's desire to move ahead in relations after months of discord over trade imbalances, Chinese currency policies and U.S. arms sales and military maneuvers.

"China looks positively on the fresh progress made in China-U.S. relations, and we are willing to work together with the United States in promoting the advance of healthy and stable China-U.S. relations," Hu told director of the U.S. National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers, and Deputy National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon.

The Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post also reported Wednesday, citing unnamed Chinese diplomats, that the governments had agreed to resume the talks between the China and U.S. militaries that Beijing suspended earlier this year in a pique over U.S. weapons sales to Chinese rival Taiwan.

Addressing the security and economic spats that have dragged down relations was at the heart of Summers and Donilon's three days of meetings in Beijing. With an anemic economy and his Democratic Party under pressure in upcoming congressional elections, Obama is hoping for Beijing concessions on exchange rate policies that critics say keep the Chinese currency low in value, thereby subsidizing Chinese exports and contributing to high U.S. unemployment and voter dissatisfaction.

Hu, in the meantime, is trying to strengthen his political hand ahead of a delicate Communist Party leadership transition and maintain the popularity of his government with people grown used to high rates of economic growth in part buoyed by trade with the United States.

A White House visit - earlier offered by Obama and reiterated by Donilon this week - would be a boost for Hu in the highly symbolic, ceremony-centric world of Chinese politics. U.S. officials have said that Hu is likely to visit Washington in January, though dates are still being discussed.

In his meeting with the U.S. officials, Hu noted Obama's trip to Beijing last November and said "relations have on the whole maintained healthy development thanks to the efforts of both sides."

Beyond the positive tone, it was unclear whether substantive compromises were reached during the trip. A briefing Donilon and Summers scheduled with reporters was canceled before their departure Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected U.S. pressure on China's currency policies, saying Beijing will set the pace of any reforms.

"Exchange rate reform can't be pressed ahead under external pressure," said Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokesman.

Still, senior Chinese officials talked of ending the public carping that has contributed to the souring atmosphere in recent months.

"Quiet and in-depth dialogue is better than loud haranguing," said State Councilor Dai Bingguo told Summers and Donilon on Tuesday.