US President Barack Obama told China’s President Hu Jintao on Saturday that

US President Barack Obama told China’s President Hu Jintao on Saturday that Americans were “frustrated” and “impatient” at the pace of change in Beijing’s economic policy.

Obama delivered the frank warning in talks on the eve of a major Asia-Pacific summit, a senior US official said, after the president earlier warned that China must “play by the rules” of international trade.

The president’s direct language betrayed increasing US concern over the level of China’s yuan currency, which critics say is kept artificially low to boost exports, and Beijing’s observance of intellectual property standards.

The meeting took place amid rising domestic political pressure on Obama over China’s trade record, voiced again by Republican candidates in a campaign debate on Saturday as the 2012 presidential election campaign gathers pace.

But Hu retorted that a big rise in the yuan would not help the United States, adding the US trade deficit and unemployment were not caused by his country’s exchange rate policy, which he qualified as “responsible.”

Obama said before the talks he wanted to discuss “efforts to jointly ensure that countries like Iran are abiding by international rules and norms” and said North Korea’s nuclear program and non-proliferation would also come up.

“We are both Pacific powers and I think many countries in the region look to a constructive relationship between the United States and China as the basis for continued growth and prosperity,” Obama said.

Hu, in a nod to fraught economic times that have spooked global markets, said the world was undergoing “complex and profound changes.”

“For us not to get that competitive advantage that we need in a large marketplace like China is not acceptable,” Obama said.

Source Associated Press