President Barack Obama lent White House weight to the Pentagon’s call for more military exchanges with their Chinese counterparts while in Beijing on Tuesday.

"We meet here at a time when the relationship between the United States and China has never been more important to our collective future.  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," Obama said, in a joint appearance with China's President Hu Jintao.

A joint U.S.-China statement, the sides said the countries will take “concrete steps” to begin planning greater number of sustainable military-to-military exchanges, beginning with the bosses themselves: Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen.

“The United States and China agreed that regular exchanges between leaders of the two countries are essential to the long-term, sound, and steady growth of U.S.-China relations,” said the statement, citing this year’s three meetings between Obama and Hu. “Leaders of the two countries will continue to maintain close communication through mutual visits, meetings, telephone conversations and correspondence.”

In October, during a high-profile Pentagon visit by China’s Gen. Xu Caihou, Gates called for an end to “on again-off again” cycle of trans-Pacific communications. The two sides agreed their military reps would meet again at a December maritime conference and later would conduct a joint maritime search and rescue operation. Xu was particularly interested in junior officer exchanges with American counterparts, press secretary Geoff Morrell said following the meeting. Xu later visited several U.S. installations from Annapolis to Pacific Command. 

The relevant portion of the joint statement follows:

The United States and China commended the outcomes of the visit to the United States by General Xu Caihou, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission, in October this year, and stated that they will take concrete steps to advance sustained and reliable military-to-military relations in the future. The two sides will prepare for the visit to the United States by General Chen Bingde, Chief of the General Staff of China’s People’s Liberation Army, and the visits to China by Robert Gates, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. The two sides will actively implement various exchange and cooperation programs agreed between the two militaries, including by increasing the level and frequency of exchanges. The goal of these efforts is to improve their capabilities for practical cooperation and foster greater understanding of each other’s intentions and of the international security environment.