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SEOUL, Nov 11 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States and China were "making progress" in discussions on economic issues, but made only a guarded reference to the divisive topic of Beijing's currency.
"As two of the world's leading economies we have a special obligation to deal with ensuring strong balance and sustained growth," Obama said at the start of a meeting with China's President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Seoul.
The United States says Beijing holds its yuan currency artificially low against the U.S. dollar and argues it should be allowed to rise to aid U.S. exports and jobs.
Obama is pushing for specific commitments from other G20 leaders at this summit to tackle global imbalances -- shorthand for the massive U.S. trade deficit and equally large trade surpluses built up by countries such as China and Germany.
It was Obama's seventh meeting with Hu, the most with any foreign leader since the start of his presidency in January 2009 -- a record the White House says shows how highly Obama values their relationship.
"The U.S.-China relationship, I think, has become stronger over the last several years, as we've been discussing a whole range of not only bilateral issues but world issues," he said.
Hu struck the same tone of cooperation in his remarks.
"The Chinese side stands ready to work with the U.S. side to increase dialogue, exchanges and cooperation so that we can move forward the China-U.S. relationship on a positive, cooperative and comprehensive track," Hu said. he said the G20 would yield a "positive outcome". (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Alister Bull; Editing by Alex Richardson)