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Chinese president Hu Jintao ended his U.S. visit in Chicago on the day when the city was announced as Obama's headquarters for the 2012 election campaign.
Hu Jintao's first state visit to the U.S. has been heralded as an unmitigated success on the front pages of China's newspapers and during lengthy state-run television broadcasts. In the Global Times a : "U.K media calls China and U.S. 'on equal footing.'" This notion was further echoed online, with a generally warm welcome for Hu Jintao.
The positive turn in ties is believed to be the result of the needs of the U.S more than those of China. With the U.S. suffering from stagnating economic growth and lingering high unemployment, it is desperate for trade and investment from China, which managed to weather the financial crisis without nearly as much pain. There has been no news about the North Korean issue, which was believed to feature prominently on the agenda of Hu's visit. President Hu was expected to focus on South Korea's actions, but it was announced on the day Obama and Hu were to meet that South Korea, which earlier hindered international efforts to resolve the Korean problem, has agreed to hold bilateral talks with its northern neighbor.
As for the other issues on the U.S.-Chinese agenda, the Chinese President is rumoured to have mentioned a realistic exchange rate for the yuan, now called renminbi (RMB), and Obama allegedly said that Beijing wants RMB to become a competitor with the U.S. dollar as an international currency. However the exact terms of an eventual arrangement have not been communicated.
Concerning human rights, Hu Jintao stated that: "China still faces many challenges in economic and social development, and a lot still needs to be done in China in terms of human rights." During his meeting in Congress, Hu was denounced as "a repressive leader," a "dictator" and a "human rights abuser”.
The atmosphere during the state dinner at the White House was quite different. Holding the dinner for Hu was major news in itself, as it has been more than 13 years since a Chinese president has been the guest of honor at a White House state dinner. The main results of the visit were announced during the dinner and at several other meetings, with the biggest result unveiling the Untied States signing $45 billion worth of new trade and investment deals with China, which Obama said will create up to 235,000 new jobs for U.S. workers.
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