Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Tuesday reiterated Beijing's position on the Taiwan issue, urging Washington to conform to the spirit of the three joint communiques underpinning the China-U.S. relations.

China's Vice-President Xi Jinping (L) meets with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, February 14, 2012.?

At a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, Xi called on the U.S. side to safeguard, with concrete action, the peaceful development of the relations across the Taiwan Strait and the overall development of China-U.S. relations, according to a press release issued by the Chinese delegation.

Xi said the Taiwan issue concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and remains, as always, the most important and most sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations.

Beijing appreciates Washington's repeated declarations of its commitment to the one-China policy on various occasions, Xi said.

Obama, for his part, reiterated adherence to the one-China policy based on the three joint communiques, according to the press release.

The United States rejects any calls for "Taiwan independence," he said, adding that his country wants to see the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations move forward.

In talks with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, Xi said Taiwan and Tibet issues concern China's core interests. He asked the U.S. side to properly and cautiously handle these issues so as to avoid damage and disturbance to China-U.S. relations.