Fact Sheet: President Obama's Visit to China

On November 10-12, 2014, President Xi Jinping of China hosted President Barack Obama of the United States for a state visit. The two heads of state exchanged views on a range of subjects and agreed to expand practical cooperation on global, regional, and bilateral issues. The two leaders agreed to expand and deepen cooperation in the following areas:

Addressing Global and Regional Challenges

The United States expresses appreciation for China's approximately $130 million in contributions to the international Ebola response. The United States and China are working together to provide needed equipment, supplies, and treatment facilities in Liberia, and our health personnel are working side-by-side to address the Ebola epidemic at its source. The two sides call on all members of the international community to step up their efforts in support of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Together, the United States and China are committed to working jointly with partners through the Global Health Security Agenda to develop long-term capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases.

The United States and China condemn all forms of terrorism. The two leaders discussed the global threat posed by ISIL. The United States welcomes China's contribution of $10 million in humanitarian assistance to displaced persons in Iraq. The United States and China agree to strengthen cooperation in the following areas: stemming the transnational flow of foreign terrorist fighters, cracking down on terrorist funding networks, increasing information exchange on terrorist threats, and assisting the government of Iraq in its rebuilding efforts.

The United States and China agree to deepen cooperation on nonproliferation and counter-proliferation issues within the U.S.-China Nonproliferation Joint Working Group, which held its inaugural meeting in Beijing on November 3. The Nonproliferation Working Group, which intends to meet again in 2015, is focused on strengthening export controls, enforcement, and information sharing, and includes a unique bilateral mechanism to address priority proliferation threats.

The United States and China commit to work together in support of a shared vision for Afghanistan: a democratic, sovereign, unified, and secure nation. Together with Afghanistan, the United States and China agreed to convene a U.S.-China-Afghanistan trilateral dialogue to advance this vision. The United States and China agree to work together to support Afghanistan's government of national unity, security forces, and economic development, so that Afghanistan cannot be used as a safe haven for terrorists. They agree to support an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process of peace and reconciliation. In the context of the Heart of Asia Conference, they also commit to each support economic development projects and frameworks to foster Afghanistan's regional integration and build government capacity.

The United States and China agree to work together to stop the trade in illegal wildlife products across the supply chain from source to consumer. Toward this end, both sides commit to cooperate in the areas of e-commerce, public outreach, joint training, and law enforcement.

Strengthening Bilateral Relations

President Obama and President Xi announced the reciprocal extension of the validity of short- term business and tourist visas from one to ten years, and of student visas from one year to five years. This arrangement will facilitate the travel of millions of U.S. and Chinese citizens, furthering the trade, cultural, and people-to-people ties that form the foundation of our bilateral relationship. In 2013, close to 2 million Chinese citizens traveled to the United States and contributed $21.1 billion to the U.S. economy; this is expected to grow to nearly $85 billion a year by 2021 with this announcement.

The United States and China agreed to military-to-military confidence-building mechanisms (CBM) in the following areas: 1) Notification of Major Military Activities, with annexes on notification of policy and strategy developments, and observation of military exercises and activities, and 2) Rules of Behavior for the Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters, with annexes on terms of reference and rules of behavior for encounters between naval surface vessels. Together, these CBMs increase transparency and predictability and reduce risk of unintended incidents. Both sides commit to further develop both CBMs. The United States will prioritize completing a mechanism for informing the other party of ballistic missile launches as an annex to the Notification of Major Military Activities mechanism. On the Rules of Behavior for the Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters CBM, the United States will prioritize developing an annex on air-air encounters.

President Obama and President Xi agree to work on expanding law enforcement cooperation in the following areas: enhancing coordination and cooperation on repatriation and fugitive issues, increasing law enforcement cooperation on counterfeit goods, stemming the flow of improvised explosive devices, and fighting corruption and transnational crime. The two leaders highlighted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson's anticipated travel to China in 2015 as an opportunity for our countries to explore specific proposals for further cooperation.