Bush Urges Pacific Rim to Expand Free Trade

According to Daniel M. Price, a deputy national security adviser, Hu brought up the issue in the meeting and welcomed heightened cooperation with the United States. The two leaders discussed revisions to their laws and regulations concerning product safety, and enhanced enforcement and inspections being undertaken by China. Bush assured Hu that U.S. concerns about safety did not amount to trade protectionism.

Before the meeting, Bush said he would continue nudging China to be more aggressive in pressuring Iran to give up its suspected nuclear weapons program. Jeffrey said Bush urged "international solidarity" in moving toward a possible third U.N. Security Council resolution against Iran.

Bush also planned to ask Hu to be more assertive in pressing the Sudanese government to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. China has extensive investments in Sudan's burgeoning oil industry. On that front, Jeffrey said, the Chinese reaffirmed plans to send a team of engineers to Darfur to help U.N. peacekeepers struggling to contain the violence there.

Bush raised the issue of China's currency, the yuan, which many economists believe is undervalued, contributing to the U.S. trade deficit with China. Price said Hu indicated that China is moving toward allowing the market to have more influence in valuing the yuan.

The leaders affirmed plans to continue high-level military exchanges. Their governments hope to announce soon that they will establish a hotline between their militaries, Jeffrey said.

According to U.S. accounts, Bush tried to persuade Hu to embrace efforts to address the increasingly urgent issue of climate change by setting nonbinding goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.

With its roaring economy and a population more than four times the U.S. total, China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases, according to at least one study. Hu said after the meeting that he shared Bush's concern about climate change, if not his approach to attacking it. "We believe that the issue of climate change bears on the welfare of the whole humanity and sustainable development of the whole world," Hu said.

China's leaders have been reluctant to endorse global climate change plans that are near the top of the agenda at the summit, which officially begins Friday. Like most developing nations, China is concerned that the declaration acknowledge "common but differentiated responsibilities" for individual nations when it comes to addressing global warming, Price said.