Mena: Maybe Ancient Chinese and Ancient Roman philosophers were involved in the planning of the USA.
China's President Xi Jinping begins US state visit in Seattle
22 September 2015
From the section China
Chinese President Xi Jinping (file image)Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Among Mr Xi's visits is a tour of the Boeing plane factory in Washington state
Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Seattle at the start of his first state visit to the US.
Mr Xi will spend three days meeting business and technology leaders in Seattle, before heading to Washington for talks with President Barack Obama.
Cyber security is expected to feature prominently in their discussions, after the US said Chinese spying was putting a strain on bilateral relations.
On Monday Mr Xi denied there was any state-backed hacking of US companies.
US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing (2014)Image copyright Getty Images ◾ Cement and pigs - China's astounding transformation in statistics and info graphics ◾ Lower your hopes: for the visit, says BBC China Editor Carrie Gracie ◾ From farm to factory - Can China keep its new city dwellers healthy and happy? ◾Asia Business Correspondent Karishma Vaswani on how China's slowdown is taking its toll
In an article in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Mr Xi said hacking and cyber espionage were illegal, and that the Chinese government did not engage in the theft of commercial secrets or encourage companies to do so.
But he said Beijing - which has previously complained it is a victim of hacking - was "ready to strengthen co-operation with the US side on this issue".
US national security adviser Susan Rice had on Monday said Chinese-backed hacking was undermining long-term economic co-operation between the US and China "and it needs to stop".
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Media caption What do Americans and Chinese think about the upcoming state visit from President Xi?
While in Seattle, Mr Xi will hold talks with some of the most prominent US technology and business leaders, and will visit the vast Boeing aeroplane factory in Everett, Washington state.
Slowing down
Also expected to be on the agenda later this week is China's increasing territorial assertiveness in South East Asia.
China claims a vast swathe of territory in the South China Sea in particular, angering many of its neighbours who had competing claims, and in recent months it has been carrying out land reclamation in the area.
At the same time, China has been increasing defence spending and upgrading its military capabilities.
The US has raised concerns with China about the build-up of tensions in the region and about the possible impact on freedom of navigation.
In the Wall Street Journal interview, Mr Xi said China's work would actually improve navigation, but did not say how.
The visit also comes as China's economy, which has grown rapidly in recent years, is beginning to slow, causing global concern about a fall in demand from the world's second largest economy.
Recent dramatic losses on the Chinese stock markets, despite government interventions, have led to questions over how well the government is managing the slowdown.
Mr Xi will be hosted at the White House for a state dinner on 25 September, and is due to give a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on 28 September
Xi Jinping says China open to foreign business amid economic reforms
23 September 2015
From the section China
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during his welcoming banquet at the start of his visit to the United States, at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, Washington on 22 September 2015.Image copyright AFP Image caption Correspondents say Mr Xi and Mr Obama are likely to discuss hacking and economic reforms later in the state visit
Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought to reassure US business leaders, in a wide-ranging speech covering China's economic reforms and cyber crime.
Speaking in Seattle at the start of his state visit to the US, Mr Xi said foreign firms were welcome in China, and that Beijing would not manipulate its currency to boost exports.
He also denied Beijing engages in hacking but said China would co-operate with Washington on the issue.
Both issues have led to strained ties.
Hacking and economic reforms are expected to come up when Mr Xi meets his US counterpart Barack Obama at the White House on Friday.
James Cook, West Coast Correspondent, BBC News
Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan arrive at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, 22 September 2015Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Xi is accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan on this trip
Xi Jinping's speech at a banquet in Seattle was wide-ranging, friendly and colourful, sprinkled with Chinese proverbs and references to American culture. From Sleepless in Seattle to Walt Whitman, Mr Xi lavished praise on the culture of his hosts.
He was particularly taken, he said, with Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea which follows a fisherman's epic struggle to land a huge marlin.
The president talked about China's struggles too, giving a personal account of his tough teenage years working with peasants in a poor village, with no meat to eat for months on end.
Now the village had an internet connection, as well as plentiful meat, he said. It was a subtle rebuke to rich Westerners who criticise China's rise, reminding them where his country is rising from.
Pointedly for an American audience, he referred to the Chinese Dream which was linked, he said, to his people's yearning for a better life.
When pop met political: Sleepless in Seattle and other things about Xi's speech
Ahead of Mr Xi's visit, business leaders had re-iterated the difficulties US firms have operating in China and the deteriorating outlook for the economy.
China's economy, which has grown rapidly in recent years, is beginning to slow, causing global concern about a fall in demand for global goods.
Practitioners of Falun Gong, who say the religious movement is persecuted in China, protest the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping as counter-protestors cover their signs with Chinese flags in Seattle, Washington, 22 September 2015Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Xi's visit was also marked by protests by practitioners of Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in China, who were met with pro-Beijing counter-protests
Recent dramatic losses on the Chinese stock markets, despite government interventions, have led to questions over how well the government is managing the slowdown.
But Mr Xi told a dinner meeting of business leaders on Tuesday night that ensuring robust international trade was a top priority for China.
"China will never close its open door to the outside world," Mr Xi said in Chinese.
He called for "more understanding and trust" between the US and China, and "less estrangement and suspicion".
"Should they enter into conflict and confrontation, it would lead to disaster for both countries and the world at large," he said.
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Media caption Laura Galante: The United states and China have to decide on "the international rules they want to play by"
The US has recently alleged that the Chinese state was behind a massive data security breach of government databases as well as attacks on private firms.
But Mr Xi said China was "a strong defender of cyber security" as well as a "victim of hacking".
"The Chinese government will not, in whatever form, engage in commercial thefts or encourage or support such attempts by anyone," he said.
"Both commercial cyber theft and hacking against a government's networks are crimes that must be punished in accordance with law and relevant international treaties."
US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing (2014)Image copyright Getty Images ◾ Hack attacks - Does China's government hack US companies? ◾'Golden relationship': Can China be the 'best partner in the west'? ◾ Cement and pigs - China's astounding transformation in statistics and info graphics ◾ From farm to factory - Can China keep its new city dwellers healthy and happy? ◾Asia Business Correspondent Karishma Vaswani on how China's slowdown is taking its toll
Mr Xi is meeting a number of prominent business and technology leaders during his time in the US, and will be visiting the major Boeing aeroplane construction site in Everett, Washington state.
In this 17 September 2013, file photo, a Boeing 787-9 takes off at Paine Field in Everett, Washington.Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Xi will also visit Boeing's assembly line in Everett, a suburb north of Seattle
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday that Boeing has signed deals to supply 300 jets to Chinese airlines and leasing firms during the visit.
It also signed an agreement with a Chinese state-owned company to set up a completion centre for Boeing 737 planes, said Xinhua.
Mr Xi will be hosted at the White House for a state dinner on 25 September, and is due to give a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on 28 September
Pope Francis has named 18th-Century missionary Junipero Serra a saint, in a move cheered by Hispanic Catholics but criticised by some Native Americans.
Serra, who lived in what is now California, is the first person to be made a saint in the US.
Latino churchgoers have said honouring him is an overdue acknowledgment of the American Church's Hispanic history.
However, Native American groups have accused him of helping wipe out indigenous people and their culture.
Serra was a Franciscan friar who brought Christianity to California. Native Americans there say he was instrumental in the killing of thousands of people by the Spanish conquerors.
But his defenders insist he worked as a moderating influence
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