"I would like to particularly stress here that the young people hold the future of this relationship," Hu said, adding that the two sides will encourage the young people in the two countries to go to each other's countries to pursue further education and learn more about each other.

The two countries will also further expand cultural exchanges, develop tourism and use a variety of means to further increase people-to-people exchanges, the Chinese president said.

Cooperate to meet global challenges

Answering a question from Xinhua on the two countries' cooperative approaches to global challenges, Hu reaffirmed that China and the United States should work together to tackle global problems.

"It is all the more necessary for China and the United States to strengthen their cooperation to meet such challenges," including terrorism, human security and international financial crises, he said.

The two countries, he emphasized, should also join hands in addressing regional hotspots, fighting transnational crimes, combating piracy and preventing and treating communicable diseases.

The Chinese leader put forward a three-point proposal for both countries to do a better job in this regard: to keep up the in-the-same-boat spirit of cooperation, to increase communication and coordination and to respect and accommodate each other's interests and concerns.

Obama, for his part, said that the more the two nations can build a baseline of trust, the more likely they are able to solve frictions or irritants in a more constructive way.

"It's so important that not only governments but people in both countries understand the challenges that each country faces and not view every issue through the lens of rivalry," he said.

The Chinese president arrived in Washington on Tuesday for a four-day state visit to the United States. Prior to Wednesday's talks, he was greeted with a full-pomp welcome ceremony at the White House.

Hu said at the ceremony that his visit is aimed at increasing mutual trust, enhancing friendship, deepening cooperation and pushing forward the positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-U.S. relationship for the 21st century.