Washington DC – Chinese President Hu Jintao and United States President Barack Obama highlighted the importance of China-US cooperation in energy and environment in their messages to the Second China-US Strategic Forum on Clean Energy Cooperation, which opened on Tuesday morning in Washington.

Special Coverage: Hu Visits US  Chinese President Hu Jintao visits the United States on Jan 18-21 for a visit that is being billed as the most important US-China summit since Deng Xiaoping's visit to Washington 30 years ago.

"In the face of a series of major tasks in the development mankind, China and the United States share broader common interests and more important responsibilities," Hu said in his message.

"China is ready to work with the United States on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit to deepen the positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-US relationship to the benefit of the people of our two countries and the world over," Hu said.

In his message to the participants of the forum, jointly organized by the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy and Washington-based Brookings Institute, US President Barack Obama said that "a vital component” of America’s relationship with China to “help shape and improve the world in the 21st century… is our robust bilateral collaboration on climate change and clean energy, which is necessary to ensure both nations accelerate our respective transitions to low-carbon, energy-secure economies."

Cooperation on clean energy has created "tremendous opportunities" and offer jobs for the US, said Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to China.