World

US - China summit over

12:17 pm on 9 June 2013

President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping have ended a two-day summit in the United States.

The US and Chinese leaders spent a total of eight hours together over two days.

Mr Obama described the talks as terrific and a spokesperson for Mr Xi said they were historic, wide ranging and candid.

Topics included cyber crime and climate change. They also touched on economic and environmental issues.

The BBC reports the two leaders spent nearly six hours together on Friday and another three hours on Saturday morning at the Sunnylands retreat in California.

The summit was their first meeting since Mr Xi became president in March.

US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said the two leaders had achieved "quite a bit of alignment" on North Korea.

He also said President Obama had described to Mr Xi the types of problems the United States has faced from cyber-intrusion and theft of intellectual property.

Earlier, Mr Xi's senior foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi told reporters that China wanted co-operation rather than friction with the US over cyber-security.

"Cyber security should not become the root cause of mutual suspicion and friction, rather it should be a new bright spot in our co-operation," he said.

The White House issued a statement on Saturday saying the two nations had agreed to work together for the first time to reduce hydrofluorocarbons.

Sunnylands was built in the 1960s in Rancho Mirage, California, as a home for Walter and Leonore Annenberg. The 200-acre estate includes 11 lakes, a tennis court, and a nine-hole golf course.