>>
thank you.
>>>
president obama
continues his trip to asia tonight with a highly anticipated visit to
china
. the president's first. it comes at a time when relations between the two countries are changing dramatically as
china
plays an ever-larger role in the world stage. following all this for us is our
white house
correspondent
savannah guthrie
with the president tonight in shanghai. savannah, good evening.
>>
reporter: good evening to you, lester. this will be a trip of delicate diplomacy. the president needs
china
on issues like
iran
and
north korea
. there are tensions on things like trade,
climate change
and
human rights
. and looming over all of it is
china
's status as the u.s.' number one creditor. arriving in shanghai, the president was greeted by chinese dignitaries and a driving rain and wind. mr. obama will spend three days in a country whose power and influence are on the rise, something the president says should not cause fear.
>>
on the contrary, the rise of a strong and prosperous
china
can be a source of strength for the community of nations.
>>
reporter: but when the president meets again with
chinese president
hu jintao
in beijing, tensions may rise over economic issues. the u.s. has long been concerned
china
manipulates its currency to make its goods cheaper, hurting american businesses. but the
u.s. government
is heavily in debt to
china
, borrowing hundreds of billions to fund stimulus efforts, making it harder to push on delicate issues.
>>
the
united states
wants to gain cooperation from
china
on issues like
north korea
,
iran
, and
economic reform
, which may cause it to soft pedal some of the other issues like
human rights
and
climate change
.
>>
reporter: for the president, the trip is also part outreach. tomorrow he'll host a
town hall
at a museum in shanghai, with hundreds of
chinese university
students, an event the
white house
hopes will get an airing on
china
's tightly run media.
>>
we with like to reach the broadest possible audience. we're live streaming it on whitehouse.gov and we'll see how widely it is broadcast in other medium.
>>
reporter: before leaving the summit with asian leaders in singapore saturday, mr. obama met with russia's prime minister
dmitry medvedev
, harolding progress but not a final deal. and both countries agree
iran
is
running out of time
to make good on its promises to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
>>
we can't count on that. and we will begin to discuss and prepare for these other pathways.
>>
reporter: those other pathways include sanctions against
iran
. and while he's here in
china
, the president will be talking to chinese leaders hoping they will help put the pressure on
iran
, its traditional ally.
>>
savannah guthrie
, thank you.
“ ”