US president Barack Obama arrives in China

US resident Barack Obama arrived in China on Sunday, taking his push to energise ties with Asia to the region's emerging super-power and world's third biggest economy.

Late in the evening local time, Obama landed in a rainy Shanghai, eastern China's coastal commercial hub, where he is due to meet city officials and hold a "town hall" session with young people on Monday, before heading on to Beijing.

Obama had no meetings or events scheduled for Sunday.

The US president's talks in Beijing with President Hu Jintao and officials will cover sometimes tense economic ties, international trouble-spots such as North Korea and Iran, and international efforts to fight climate change.