Obama, in call with China’s Xi, calls for narrowing of cyber issues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Barack Obama in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for "swift work" to narrow the countries' differences on cyber issues, the White House said.

The world's two biggest economies have been trying to ease tensions amid mutual accusations of hacking and Internet theft.

Obama also told Xi he looked forward to welcoming him to Washington for a state visit later this year, the statement added.

The White House added that "The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to coordinate closely on secu- rity challenges, including by jointly encouraging Iran to seize the historic opportunity presented by P5+1 negotiations."

The nuclear talks with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France are aimed at clinching an accord that would ease Western concerns that Tehran could pursue a convert nuclear weapons program, in return for the lifting of sanctions that have ravaged the Iranian economy.

Negotiators have set a June 30 final deadline for an accord, and Western officials have said they aim to agree on the substance of that deal by March.