SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

In a joint statement at the end of their summit, Hu and U.S. President Barack Obama called for building mutually beneficial economic ties and cooperating on climate change, energy and the environment, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

During his four-day trip, Hu also met with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden and the congressional leadership and visited Chicago.

Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thornton China Center, told Xinhua the visit was important in establishing an "eyes wide open" U.S.-China relationship, which the presidents realize "is too important for us to allow it to deteriorate."

He said 2010 was difficult for relations, but Hu's visit "puts us on a solid footing moving forward and therefore played a very useful role."

In the American view, Lieberthal said, China has taken "a constructive direction" on the North Korean and Iranian nuclear issues and was helpful with the south Sudan secession referendum. "In a variety of ways on the security agenda, and also on the economic and trade agenda, we've seen some things move forward", he said.

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