Earlier on Saturday, Clinton and Yang said at a joint press conference that the two nations would build a "double-track" strategic and economic dialogue mechanism to discuss concerns of either politics or the economy.

Details about the new mechanism are not clear but Clinton said she and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would be involved in it.

The two presidents are expected to announce a decision when they meet at the G20 summit in London in April, she added.

Fighting global warming jointly with China was a top issue for Clinton's Beijing visit.

At the news conference, she said the US and China would build "an important partnership" to develop clean energy technologies and speed up the transition to low carbon economies.

Clinton also visited a church yesterday, talked with representatives of Chinese women and participated in web chat organized by China Daily.

Beijing was the last leg of Clinton's four-nation Asian tour that also took her to Japan, Indonesia and South Korea.

(China Daily February 23, 2009)