Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is spending the final hours of his four-day visit to the United States talking trade and meeting schoolchildren.
Xi, who is expected to become China's president next year, began the day in Los Angeles, at the China-U.S. Economic Trade Forum.
Reuters reports Xi said the Chinese economy will experience stable growth this year, without a so-called “hard landing,” or sudden slump. He said China is encouraging more consumption, imports and external investment.
Xi and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also were visiting a school and meeting with a group of U.S. governors.
On Thursday, the Chinese visitor visited the Port of Los Angeles, a key transport hub for China-U.S. trade. Together with California Governor Jerry Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, he toured the terminal for the China Shipping Company, which is undergoing a major expansion.
Xi said the port and its expansion are a “solid foundation” for future economic cooperation between the two countries.
Despite an overall warm welcome, U.S. leaders have not turned away from sensitive issues. Biden and President Barack Obama raised human-rights concerns with Xi during meetings at the White House Tuesday.
During Xi's visit to Congress on Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner gave him with a letter of concern about Gao Zhisheng, a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer who disappeared nearly two years ago. Senator John McCain said he discussed recent protest actions by Tibetan monks, included those who set themselves afire to denounce China's rule over their homeland. The senator said he also brought up China's veto to block a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria.
“As I just mentioned to the vice president, there has been enormous and dynamic economic progress, but we still have Tibetan monks burning themselves to death, we have Nobel Prize winners in house arrest and the continued propping up of North Korea, a brutal regime.”
During a major policy speech in Washington Wednesday, Xi demanded that the U.S. respect China's sovereignty over Tibet and Taiwan. He also called for more balanced economic ties between the two countries and closer cooperation on international problems, including tensions over North Korea and Iran.
