US President Barack Obama has told China that the two countries are not predestined to be adversaries¹.

美国总统奥巴马称，中美双方不会是注定成为对手的。

Obama's first meeting was with Shanghai's Mayor Han Zheng

President Obama made the comments during a speech in Shanghai, shortly before holding a question and answer session with Chinese students.

In the speech, he also reminded his Chinese hosts that all people, including Chinese citizens, deserved to be given basic rights.

President Obama is on a four-day visit to China.

'Freedom of expression'

In his speech at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the US president praised China's efforts in lifting millions of people out of poverty.

He also addressed the relationship between the two nations.

"We have known setbacks（阻碍，挫折） and challenges over the last 30 years. Our relationship has not been without disagreement and difficulty," said President Obama.

"But the notion（观念，想法） that we must be adversaries（敌手，对手） is not predestined（注定如此）, not when we consider the past," he added.

Mr Obama then turned to human rights, saying they were not unique to the United States.

"These freedoms of expression and worship, of access to information and political participation² we believe are universal rights. They should be available to all people, including ethnic³ and religious minorities," he said

Mr Obama then began a question and answer session with students in the audience.

A few days ago, China's state-run news agency Xinhua asked internet users to send in questions they would like to ask Mr Obama.

They covered issues on economics and politics, as well as more personal questions, such as whether or not the US president's wife, Michelle, paid for her own clothes.

Presidential dinner

President Obama is due to fly to Beijing later on Monday to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao for dinner.

The two are expected to hold talks on Tuesday on issues such as trade imbalances, the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea, and the effort to tackle climate change.

The US president indicated that he would also raise concerns about human rights in China - as many human rights organisations had asked him to do.

Speaking in Tokyo earlier in the week, Mr Obama said welcomed a strong China, adding that better US ties with Beijing did not mean a weakening of relations with US allies in the region.

But an online survey on US-China relations, 80% of Chinese respondents said the United States did not want to see their country rise, the Chinese magazine Globe reported.