LIMA -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday thanked outgoing US President George W. Bush for building ties between the Pacific powers and voiced hope for his successor Barack Obama.

Hu met with Bush ahead of an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru and "expressed appreciation" for the "advances in ties achieved in the past few years," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters.

"He also expressed hope that the next US administration can recognize the importance of China-US ties and at the same time recognize the importance of the Taiwan issue to China-US ties," he said.

China considers Taiwan, where defeated nationalists fled in 1949, to be part of its territory and demands that all nations recognize only Beijing as the legitimate government.

Bush pleased Beijing by attending the 2008 Olympic Games, rejecting appeals to stay away due to China's human rights record. However, Bush has also met with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a pariah for Beijing.

Hu voiced hope that Bush, after he steps down on January 20, "can come to China often to continue to have a positive influence on China-US ties."

The White House earlier said that Bush was "a little nostalgic" during his final meeting with Hu as heads of state.