Hu and Obama: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship?

Most of the nation has focused on today's meeting of President Bush and President-Elect Obama, but Bush isn't the only world leader Obama's been talking to in recent days, among them is China/st1 :country-region>'s President Hu Jintao. /span>

This Sunday Obama and Hu spoke on the phone discussing a variety of topics like the current economic crisis, U.S.-Sino relations, environmental challenges, and security.  According to Xinhua News, Hu told Obama he appreciated Obama's emphasis on the growing importance of China/st1 :country-region> during his election speeches, and looks forward to continuing their common diplomatic interests./span>

Obama agreed that a strong Sino-US relationship was mutually beneficial for the world, and expressed hope for strengthened bilateral ties.  /span>

While this meeting didn't really go beyond the surface of initial diplomatic formalities, it will be interesting to watch how the ties between the two countries continue to evolve during Obama's presidency.  How will the trade relationship between the two countries evolve?  Will they be able to collaborate effectively on the major global issues like the environment and climate change?  How will U.S./st1 :place> foreign policy change over the next four years?/span>

We'll have to wait for the answers to these and other questions, and it's still unknown whether or not Obama and Hu will meet personally later this week when Hu visits Washington/st1 :state> for the upcoming economic summit.  In the meantime, the two seem to have made a positive first step towards strengthening US-Sino relations.  /span>