Obama sets off for Asia, China looms large

By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama left for Asia on Thursday with the U.S. economy, jobs and a yawning trade deficit with China looming large on his agenda.

Global climate change, the North Korean and Iranian nuclear disputes and Obama's review of his Afghanistan strategy are also major topics for his talks with the Chinese and other officials on the first trip to Asia of his presidency.

"I will be meeting with leaders abroad to discuss a strategy for growth that is both balanced and broadly shared," Obama said at the White House before departing for Japan, underlining the economic focus of his week-long trip.

"It is a strategy in which Asia and Pacific markets are open to our exports and one in which prosperity around the world is no longer as dependent on American consumption and borrowing but rather on American innovation and products."

In an interview with Reuters this week, Obama described China as a "vital partner, as well as a competitor."

But he warned of "enormous strains" in relations between the world's two most powerful nations if economic imbalances between them were not corrected.

Those imbalances -- America's excessive consumption and borrowing, facilitated by China's aggressive export strategy and purchases of U.S. debt -- are seen by many as a major cause of the boom and subsequent bust in the global economy.

Obama's nine-day tour includes a stop in Singapore for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, followed by visits to Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul.