Chinese President Hu Jintao left Chicago for China on Friday after concluding a state visit to the United States, during which he and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama agreed to build a China-U.S. cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.

Chinese President Hu Jintao shakes hands with U.S. President Barack Obama during a bilateral meeting at the White House in Washington, the United States, Jan. 19, 2011. [Lan Hongguang/Xinhua]

Hu, who began his four-day visit Tuesday, had extensive and in-depth discussions with Obama at the White House on Wednesday on major bilateral, regional and world issues.

The two sides reached "important agreement on China-U.S. relations and major international and regional issues of shared interests," the Chinese president said when he and Obama met the press following their discussions.

"We both agree to further push forward the positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-U.S. relationship," Hu said, adding that both sides also pledged to forge "a China-U.S. cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit" for the benefit of the two countries and beyond.