U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he was looking forward to visiting China later this year.

Obama made the remarks when meeting with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, who was in L'Aquila to attend the leaders' meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) and five leading emerging economies (G5) on behalf of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

During the meeting, Obama said the U.S. side attached importance to the U.S.-China relations, and he hoped that the upcoming U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue could generate fruitful results, according to a press release issued by the Chinese delegation.

It is important for the United States and China to enhance cooperation on major international issues, Obama said, adding that it benefits both countries and both people.

The two also exchanged views on bilateral relations and other major international and regional issues, said the press release.

Dai conveyed Hu's greetings to Obama while Obama asked Dai to pass on his greetings and good wishes to Hu.

Hu cut short his stay in Italy and skipped the G8 meeting due to the situation in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. He returned to Beijing Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2009)