US President Barack Obama meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao during the APEC Summit in Honolulu, Hawaii Nov 12, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

HONOLULU, United States - Chinese President Hu Jintao met his US counterpart Barack Obama in Honolulu, Hawaii, Saturday to discuss Sino-US ties and major world and regional issues.

Hu and Obama were meeting before the Economic Leaders Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Hawaii.

In a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday in Honolulu, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the Hu-Obama meeting has great significance for the steady development of China-US relations.

He noted that under the current situation, China is ready to make concerted efforts with the United States to deepen understanding, enhance mutual trust and better carry out the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, so as to build a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.

Clinton said President Obama looked forward to his meeting with President Hu.

The US side values its cooperative partnership with China, which is not only in the interests of both sides, but also holds great importance to the world at large, she said.

Earlier this month, Hu and Obama met in Cannes, France, on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) and exchanged views on bilateral ties and the G20 summit.