President Obama told Chinese President Hu Jintao today that cooperation between the United States and China is vital "not only to the security and prosperity of our own people but is also vital to the world."

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Obama said he was sure the pair would discuss issues of economic growth, how to rebalance growth around the world, the importance of putting people back to work and making sure trade relationships between their two countries end up being a "win-win" situation.

He said he also expected to discuss "a range of both regional and global security issues" including nonproliferation, the Korean peninsula, ways to work together on issues like climate change, and "efforts to jointly ensure that countries like Iran are abiding by international rules and norms.

"Although there are areas where we continue to have differences, I am confident that the U.S.-China relationship will continue to grow in a constructive way based on mutual respect and mutual interest," Obama said.

President Hu said he was delighted to have the opportunity to come to Hawaii and meet with Obama for their ninth meeting together.

Hu said he looked forward to extensive and in-depth discussions on China-US relations as well as major regional and international issues.

"The international situation is undergoing complex and profound changes," Hu said. "There is growing instability and uncertainty in the world economic recovery." 

Under these circumstances, Hu said it is important that the U.S. and China increase their communication and cooperation.

"China looks forward to maintaining and strengthening dialogue with the United States, to respect each other’s major concerns, appropriately manage sensitive issues and ensure China-U.S. relationship will continue to grow on a sustainable and stable path," Hu said.

He said China appreciates the work the U.S. has done in preparing for the APEC meeting.

"The Asia-Pacific region is the most dynamic region in today’s world, with the biggest development potential," he said. "This region should become a region of active cooperation between China and the United States."

"I sincerely wish this meeting a true success and I hope that this meeting here will send up a positive message for the international community that economies in the Asia-Pacific region will reach out to each other like passengers in the same boat and work together to ensure the continued steady growth of the economies."