US President Barack Obama welcomed President Xi Jinping to the White House

On Friday, US President Barack Obama welcomed President Xi Jinping to the White House. The two leaders held a joint press conference, announcing their new agreements on cybersecurity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) is welcomed by U.S. President Barack Obama at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, Sept. 25, 2015. Xi arrived in Washington, the second stop of his state visit to the United States, on Thursday after a busy two-and-a-half-day stay in Seattle. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

In his first US state visit, President Xi Jinping, together with his wife Peng Liyuan, basked in the celebration of Sino-US ties.

US President Barack Obama opened the White House welcoming ceremony for President Xi with a speech, saying the US welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China, and called for more cooperation between the two countries.

President Xi and President Obama held candid discussions to bridge differences, especially as the two nations diverged on allegations of state-sponsored cyber theft.

"China strongly opposes and combats the theft of commercial secrets and other kinds of hacking attacks. So all and all we have broad common interest in the field of cyber security but we need to strengthen cooperation and avoid leading to confrontation. Nor should we politicize this issue," Xi said.

"We did not, at our level, have specific discussions of specific cases, but I did indicate to President Xi that we will apply those and whatever other tools we have in our tool kit to go after cyber criminals, either retrospectively or prospectively. Those are tools generally that were -- are not directed at governments, they are directed at entities or individuals that we can identify," Obama said.

On the thorny issue of the South China Sea dispute, President Xi reiterated China is committed to resolving any disputes in the South China Sea in a peaceful manner and protecting the freedom of navigation and overflights.

He added that China's construction activities do not target any country.
"Islands in the South China Sea, since ancient times, are China's territory. We have the right to uphold our own territorial sovereignty, and lawful and legitimate maritime rights and interests," Xi said.
"We are committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea. Managing differences and disputes through dialogue and addressing disputes through negotiation, consultation in a peaceful manner, and exploring ways to achieve mutual beneficial cooperation."

And on the economic front, both leaders say they've made significant progress on a bilateral investment treaty to speed up negotiations.

President Xi also stressed that China is committed to improving the marketized Renminbi exchange information system.

Going forward, China will further improve the marketization and formation system of the Renminbi exchange rate, and maintain the basic stability of the Renminbi.