Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, met Friday in this picturesque estate in Rancho Mirage, California, to exchange views on major issues of common concern.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is greeted by U.S. President Barack Obama at the Annenberg Retreat, California, the United States, June 7, 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, met Friday to exchange views on major issues of common concern. [Lan Hongguang/Xinhua]

Obama received Xi upon his arrival, and the two heads of state greeted each other.

At the beginning of the meeting, Xi thanked Obama for the invitation, saying that he was glad to hold talks with the U.S. president at Sunnylands.

"Sunnylands is close to the Pacific Ocean, and China is just on the other side of the ocean," Xi said.

Xi recalled his visit to the United States last year when he said that the vast Pacific Ocean has enough room to accommodate the development of the two large countries of China and the United States.

"Today I meet here with President Obama to map out a blueprint for the development of China-U.S. relations and conduct cooperation across the Pacific Ocean," the Chinese president said.

More than four decades ago, Xi said, the then leaders of the two countries opened the door for China-U.S. interactions with political courage and wisdom, making a "handshake across the Pacific Ocean."

Since then, the Chinese president said, the China-U.S. relations, despite ups and downs, have achieved historic progress and brought huge benefits to the two peoples.

Noting that their relationship now stands at a new historic starting point, Xi said the two countries share important converging interests, from promoting each other's economic development and steady global economic recovery to addressing international and regional hot issues and global challenges.

That requires, he added, the two nations to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Xi stressed that China and the United States, under new circumstances, should have an in-depth review of their ties.

"What kind of a relationship do we need? What type of cooperation should China and the United States have to achieve win-win results? How can both countries work together to promote peace and development in the world? These questions are major concerns not only of the two countries and two peoples, but also of the whole international community," he said.

The Chinese president called on the two sides to work together to build a new type of relations between major countries in an innovative and active way to serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples and to promote development and progress of human society.

Xi said that he was looking forward to having extensive and in-depth exchanges with Obama on major strategic issues of common concern, so as to strengthen mutual understanding and promote comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

"I believe with joint efforts of both sides, the summit will achieve important and positive results, and inject new vigor into the future development of China-U.S. relations," Xi said.

Obama, for his part, welcomed Xi's visit and said the U.S.-China relationship is important not only for the prosperity and security of the two countries, but also for the Asia Pacific region and the whole world.

"Our decision to meet so early, I think, signifies the importance of the U.S.-China relationship," the U.S. president said.

He said that the unusual setting in which the U.S. side is hosting Xi also reflects the importance they attach to the bilateral relationship.

The summit meeting provides an opportunity for both sides to have a more extended conversation, to share their visions for their respective countries and to discuss the construction of a new model of cooperation between countries based on mutual interest and mutual respect, he said.

Obama said his country welcomes the continuing peaceful rise of China as a world power and in fact it is in the interest of the United States that China continues on the path of success.

"We believe that a peaceful, stable and prosperous China is not only good for Chinese but also good for the world and for the United States," he said.

Both the Chinese and the U.S. people want a strong and cooperative relationship, Obama said, adding that he is willing to work together with Xi to meet the global challenges.

"I'm very much looking forward to this (Xi's visit) being a strong foundation for the kind of new model of cooperation that we can establish for years to come," he said.

Following the meeting, Xi and Obama had a working dinner. They will meet again on Saturday morning.

The summit is the first face-to-face meeting between the presidents of China and the United States since the two countries completed their latest leadership transitions.

Xi arrived in the U.S. state of California on Thursday, after wrapping up a three-nation Latin America tour, which took him to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico.