Hu Jintao's US visit 'made progress' in enhancing China-US ties: Expert

Washington, Jan 22(ANI): Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States was "very important" and "made progress" in enhancing the relations between the two countries, a US international affairs expert has said.

Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that both President Jintao and US President Barack Obama made it very clear that China and the United States were fully aware of where they differed.

"Jintao's visit was very important for both sides to have realistic, pragmatic, stable expectations of the other and to understand not only what are the problems in the relationship, but also to understand how those problems look from the other side," the Xinhua news agency quoted Lieberthal, as saying.

"We have too many overlapping interests and goals that are of significance bilaterally, regionally and globally. The visit made progress on those issues and that those issues are ones that always need constant work," he added.

During President Jintao's state visit to the U.S. from Tuesday to Friday, the two sides agreed to build a China-U.S. cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. (ANI)