UPDATE 3-Obama, Hu discuss trade imbalances in call

(Adds White House, State Department comments)

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON Jan 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama told Chinese leader Hu Jintao in a phone call on Friday the two countries must work together to correct global trade imbalances and unclog credit markets to fight the world economic crisis, the White House said on Friday.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua said Hu told Obama that China firmly opposed trade or investment protectionism as part of settling the crisis and said Beijing would join Washington in promoting stable development at an economic summit in London in April.

Hu acknowledged U.S. efforts to address the world economic crisis and said the two countries should strengthen cooperation, Xinhua said.

The White House statement said the presidents agreed that increased close cooperation was vital.

"President Obama stressed the need to correct global trade imbalances as well as to stimulate global growth and get credit markets flowing," it said. The United States runs a huge trade deficit with China.

The phone call took place just days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner angered Beijing by telling a Senate confirmation hearing that China manipulated its currency.

China had reacted angrily to Geithner's statement. Premier Wen Jiabao told the World Economic Forum in Davos the United States was responsible for the global economic crisis, citing its "inappropriate macroeconomic policies," low savings rates and high consumption.

Currency issues have long been a source of tension between the two economic giants. Some U.S. lawmakers, labor groups and manufacturers have long complained that China has held the value of its currency artificially low to boost exports.

CHINA HOLDING U.S. DEBT

Last year China overtook Japan as the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt and held $681.9 billion in U.S. Treasuries as of November. With the United States expected to issue new debt to help pay for a huge economic stimulus package, China's holdings could grow.

There was no direct reference to the tensions in the White House and Xinhua accounts of Friday's conversation, with both sides talking about working more closely and building a more constructive relationship.

Obama and Hu agreed to meet at the summit of the Group of 20 industrial and major developing countries in London in April, Xinhua said. It said the leaders exchanged invitations to visit each other's country.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week she would pursue a "comprehensive" dialogue with China that went beyond the economic focus of the Bush administration.

The United States works with China on a host of international issues, including trying to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as reining in North Korea's atomic program.

The White House description of the Obama-Hu call indicated it covered a broad range of topics.

"The two presidents agreed to work together on global issues, specifically mentioning North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan-Pakistan, counterterrorism, proliferation, and climate change," the White House said.

"President Obama expressed appreciation for China's role as chair of the six-party talks and the two sides affirmed the importance of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," the White House said.

The State Department said earlier on Friday it would like to see China play a more positive role in ending the violence in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

"We just would like to see China do more to try to influence the leadership in Khartoum to, you know -- to do what it can to prevent further violence against the people of Darfur," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. (Additional reporting by Sue Pleming and Ross Colvin) (Editing by David Storey)