US President, Barack Obama, has told visiting Japanese Prime Minister, Taro Aso, that the alliance with Tokyo is the cornerstone of US security policy in East Asia and of America's links to the world economy.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC February 24, 2009. [Joshua Roberts/CCTV/REUTERS]

The Japanese leader is the first foreign leader to visit Obama at the White House. The president says Tuesday's meeting is a testament to the importance both countries place on their mutual ties.

The Japanese leader says that only the United States and Japan enjoy what he calls "sufficient economic strength to affect changes in the global economic recession."

The world's second-largest economy, Japan, trails only China as the largest foreign holder of US Treasury Bonds.

(CCTV February 25, 2009)