US, China to shape 21st century: Obama

US President Barack Obama hailed China as a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations and said the relationship between both the countries will reshape the 21st century.

"The relationship between the US and China would shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world. Together, we set out to build a positive, constructive, and comprehensive relationship, and we pledged to cooperate to advance our shared interests. That is what we have done," Obama said.

In a statement for the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue being held in Beijing, he said as world's largest economies, the two countries have worked together, and with G-20 partners, to sustain the global economic recovery.

"During my visit to China last fall, we forged clean energy partnerships, and at Copenhagen we made important commitments to confront climate change," he said, adding to advance our common security interests, we are cooperating to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and regional nuclear arms races that would endanger us all.

Obama thanked Chinese leadership for its commitment to establish a centre of excellence on nuclear security, which will help achieve the shared goal of securing vulnerable nuclear materials around the world.

The US President said the Strategic and Economic Dialogue gives the two countries an opportunity to deepen their cooperation even further and advance the prosperity, health and security of their people.

"Together, we can promote economic growth that is balanced and sustained and trade that is free and fair. We can work to fulfill the commitments we made at Copenhagen. We can address pressing regional and global security challenges, including strengthening the global nonproliferation regime to ensure the rights and responsibilities of all nations. We need to improve communication between our militaries, which promotes mutual understanding and confidence," he said.

"Our two nations may not always agree on every issue, but this dialogue also allows us to communicate and understand one another better. This includes America's abiding commitment to those human rights that are universal and to the dignity of all people. Indeed, we welcome our human rights dialogue with China, which we began this month and which I look forward to continuing," Obama said.

"Across all these areas, our relationship with China is guided by the recognition that we live in an interconnected world. As I said during my visit to China while standing beside President Hu in the Great Hall where you gather today, one country's success need not come at the expense of another. Our progress can be shared. Indeed, the US welcomes China as a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations," he said.