Remarks by the President in a Bilateral Meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao of China

Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Beijing, China

11:49 A.M. CST

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, Mr. Premier, I want to thank you very much for your hospitality and this meeting. And I want to send my regards not only from my delegation but also from the American people.

Now, I can tell you that those members of my government who have had dealings with you before have always come away impressed with your knowledge and your wisdom.

We have had very productive discussions over the last two days. I think President Hu and myself agreed in our first meeting that we wanted to try to deepen the strategic partnership and relationship between the United States and China. A relationship that used to be focused just on economic and trade issues is now expanding to deal with a whole host of global issues in which U.S.-China cooperation is critical.

END
11:51 A.M. CST