Beijing - US President Barack Obama met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday as he wound up a first visit to China that featured pledges from the two nations to develop strategic cooperation on major international issues.

Following talks and a lunch with Wen, Obama was scheduled to visit the Great Wall near Beijing before leaving China for South Korea late Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao promised close cooperation on finance, climate change and other international issues, and marked Obama's first visit to China with a vow to hold regular dialogue.

"We meet here at a time when the relationship between the United States and China has never been more important to our collective future," Obama told reporters as he stood next to Hu following talks in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

"The major challenges of the 21st century, from climate change to nuclear proliferation to economic recovery, are challenges that touch both our nations, and challenges that neither of our nations can solve by acting alone," he said.

Hu said he and Obama agreed that regular high-level contact was "essential to the growth of US-China relations."

In their joint statement, they pledged closer cooperation on trade, military ties, counter-terrorism, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and a host of other issues.

Obama said the US side also promoted "America's bedrock belief that all men and women possess certain universal rights" during talks on Tuesday. (dpa)