U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday that he was pleased to welcome the creation of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue.

"President Hu and I agree on the importance of maintaining strong and mutually beneficial U.S.-China economic relations, and on the need to establish an overarching bilateral economic framework between our two countries," he said in a statement.

"Strategic Economic Dialogue will help us achieve those objectives," he added.

"The economies of the United States and China have been engines of global growth," said the U.S. president. "We must ensure that citizens of both countries benefit equitably from our growing economic relationship and that we work together to address economic challenges and opportunities."

The dialogue, proposed by Bush and agreed to by Chinese President Hu Jintao last month, was announced earlier Wednesday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson began a three-day official visit to Beijing.

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Paulson will co-chair the dialogue as special representatives of President Hu and President Bush.

Source: Xinhua