US Congressman Rick Larsen speaks during an interview with Xinhua News Agency on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, Sept 18, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

WASHINGTON - Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States is very significant and timely, as it provides opportunity for the leaders of the two great powers to talk about very important issues, US Congressman Rick Larsen told Xinhua in an interview.

"I think it's a very significant visit that President Xi is making at a very significant time," said Larsen, a House Representative from the state of Washington.

The Congressman was commenting on the Sept 22-25 state visit that Xi will make to the United States, the first since he took office in 2013.

"State visits are important, not just for the symbolism of the visit, but because you are gonna have two presidents with two very aggressive agendas having opportunity to talk one on one about these very important issues," Larsen said.

HOPES AND HURDLES

Larsen, also co-chair of the bipartisan US-China Working Group in US Congress, described the US-China relationship as "a story of hopes and hurdles."

He noted that there are a lot of hopes now as the two countries continue to work together on major global issues like climate change and Xi has vowed to continue with economic reforms.

However, Larsen noted that the two countries also face some hurdles in their relationship, including cyber security and the South China Sea issue.

Larsen said that the two leaders "need to have enough of a relationship to be able to talk frankly about the challenges" that the countries face together.

STARTING WITH SEATTLE

Xi will start his US tour in Seattle of Washington, Larsen's home state, where Xi will meet with members of Congress from Washington state, local officials, top US executives and local Chinese Americans. Larsen will be among the guests invited to a banquet attended by Xi.

Asked what he would tell Xi when they meet, Larsen said he would encourage China to continue its economic reforms and take further steps to fight climate change.

Larsen saluted Washington state's "long history" of trade and economic ties with China, as demonstrated by the fact that it has the oldest state-based China Relations Council in the United States.

Larsen said he expected that Xi will see some of the products made in Washington state that consumers in China use, including those from Boeing and Microsoft, which are leading companies in the state.

The congressman also commended Xi's plans to visit areas out of Seattle during his stay in Washington state so to get "a broader view of the relationship" between China and Washington state.