Hu, Obama to discuss trade, N.Korea
- Source: Global Times
- [07:50 September 21 2009]
- Comments
By Zuo Xuan
Chinese President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart Barack Obama will meet privately on Tuesday in New York during a UN gathering before the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh later this week.
Liu Yutong, a press liaison of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in New York, confirmed to the Global Times that the meeting will take place tomorrow afternoon after a climate-change summit in the morning and a luncheon for participating foreign leaders in the afternoon.
Hu is the first foreign leader Obama plans to meet with this week.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Barack Obama during their meeting in London, Britain, on April 1, 2009. (Xinhua/file photo)
Western media speculated that the urgency behind Obama's meeting with Hu lies in resolving a simmering trade row and the nuclear crisis in North Korea, which are among other key issues to be discussed at the upcoming G20 summit and during Obama's first official visit to China in November.
The US last week slapped punitive tariffs of an additional 35 percent on Chinese-made tire imports, prompting Beijing to lodge a complaint with the WTO.
