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The U.S. and China are easing visa rules for each other's citizens, in a reciprocal agreement that President Obama says will "benefit everyone from students, to tourists, to businesses large and small." Starting his eight-day visit to East Asia, the president also said "good progress" has recently been made for a free-trade agreement among Pacific Rim countries.

Obama and other leaders are visiting China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where the president announced the U.S. and China have agreed to expand their visas beyond the current one-year term.

"Under the new arrangement, student and exchange visas will be extended to five years," Obama said in a speech at the APEC sessions, adding, "business and tourist visas will be extended to 10 years."

The White House predicts that the deal will boost the U.S. tourism industry, noting that "Chinese travelers persistently rank the United States as their top desired travel destination, but only slightly more than 1.8 percent of total outbound travelers go to the United States."

One goal of the new policy, the administration says, is to make it easier for tourists from the "fastest-growing outbound tourism market in the world" to visit America.

According to a fact sheet about the new rules, "In 2013, 1.8 million Chinese travelers visited the United States, contributing $21.1 billion to the U.S. economy and supporting more than 109,000 U.S. jobs."

Monday, President Obama also said "good progress" has recently been made toward finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement among the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries.

Obama's statement came as the U.S. hosted leaders of those 11 nations at the U.S. embassy in Beijing. The potential trade group does not include China — a detail that illustrates the balancing act of competitive engagement that in many ways defines the two countries' relationship.

From Beijing, NPR's Scott Horsley reports:

"Negotiators have been working for years to finalize the Pacific trade agreement. And while no final deal is expected during this week's meeting, President Obama says he hopes he and his fellow leaders can break some of the remaining logjams.

" 'I just met with several other members of the TPP who share my desire to make this agreement a reality,' Obama said. 'We're going to keep on working to get it done.'

"Prospects for a trade deal may have been strengthened by Democrats' losses in last week's midterm elections. Newly empowered Republicans in Congress say trade is one area where they think they can find common ground with the president."

In his speech, Obama detailed the region's economic importance:

"Taken together, APEC economies account for about 40 percent of the world's population, and nearly 60 percent of its GDP. That means we're home to nearly 3 billion customers, and three-fifths of the global economy.

"And over the next five years, nearly half of all economic growth outside the United States is projected to come from right here, in Asia. That makes this region an incredible opportunity for creating jobs and economic growth in the United States. And any serious leader in America, whether in politics or in commerce, recognizes that fact."

APEC

China

President Barack Obama

The U.S. and China are easing visa rules for each other's citizens, in a reciprocal agreement that President Obama says will "benefit everyone from students, to tourists, to businesses large and small." Starting his eight-day visit to East Asia, the president also said "good progress" has recently been made for a free-trade agreement among Pacific Rim countries.

Obama and other leaders are visiting China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where the president announced the U.S. and China have agreed to expand their visas beyond the current one-year term.

"Under the new arrangement, student and exchange visas will be extended to five years," Obama said in a speech at the APEC sessions, adding, "business and tourist visas will be extended to 10 years."

The White House predicts that the deal will boost the U.S. tourism industry, noting that "Chinese travelers persistently rank the United States as their top desired travel destination, but only slightly more than 1.8 percent of total outbound travelers go to the United States."

One goal of the new policy, the administration says, is to make it easier for tourists from the "fastest-growing outbound tourism market in the world" to visit America.

According to a fact sheet about the new rules, "In 2013, 1.8 million Chinese travelers visited the United States, contributing $21.1 billion to the U.S. economy and supporting more than 109,000 U.S. jobs."

Monday, President Obama also said "good progress" has recently been made toward finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement among the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries.

Obama's statement came as the U.S. hosted leaders of those 11 nations at the U.S. embassy in Beijing. The potential trade group does not include China — a detail that illustrates the balancing act of competitive engagement that in many ways defines the two countries' relationship.

From Beijing, NPR's Scott Horsley reports:

"Negotiators have been working for years to finalize the Pacific trade agreement. And while no final deal is expected during this week's meeting, President Obama says he hopes he and his fellow leaders can break some of the remaining logjams.

" 'I just met with several other members of the TPP who share my desire to make this agreement a reality,' Obama said. 'We're going to keep on working to get it done.'

"Prospects for a trade deal may have been strengthened by Democrats' losses in last week's midterm elections. Newly empowered Republicans in Congress say trade is one area where they think they can find common ground with the president."

In his speech, Obama detailed the region's economic importance:

"Taken together, APEC economies account for about 40 percent of the world's population, and nearly 60 percent of its GDP. That means we're home to nearly 3 billion customers, and three-fifths of the global economy.

"And over the next five years, nearly half of all economic growth outside the United States is projected to come from right here, in Asia. That makes this region an incredible opportunity for creating jobs and economic growth in the United States. And any serious leader in America, whether in politics or in commerce, recognizes that fact."

APEC

China

President Barack Obama

President Obama said once again that he won't wait on Congress to start making changes to America's immigration system. In an appearance Sunday on CBS' Face The Nation, Obama stood by his recent statements that he'll use executive action to enact changes before the end of the year, but told host Bob Schieffer that he still wants Congress to act on the issue, too.

"I prefer and still prefer to see it done through Congress, but every day that I wait we're misallocating resources," said Obama. "We're deporting people that shouldn't be deported. We're not deporting folks that are dangerous and need to be deported."

The president said both sides agree something has to be done on immigration. "We've been talking about it, for years now, in terms of fixing it," said Obama. "We need to be able to secure our border ... And we need to make sure that the millions of people who are here, many who've been here for a decade or more, and have American kids and for all practical purposes are part of our community, that they pay a fine, they pay any penalties, they learn English, they get to the back of the line, but they have a capacity to legalize themselves here."

Everyone agrees, Obama said, that the U.S. doesn't have the capacity to deport 11 million people.

Obama had said this summer that he planned to use executive action to change the immigration system. After pressure from Democrats running for re-election in heavily Republican states, as NPR's Mara Liasson reported, he later announced that he'd delay until after the midterm elections.

The delay didn't seem to do much to help Democrats, as Republican candidates went on to sweep those midterms. Now, Obama is returning to his previously-announced plans for executive action.

Republican congressional leaders aren't pleased with Obama's talk of executive action. Staff members in House Speaker John Boehner's office have warned the president against using executive orders to pursue immigration reform, calling it "executive amnesty."

Elections

Obama

CBS

President Obama said once again that he won't wait on Congress to start making changes to America's immigration system. In an appearance Sunday on CBS' Face The Nation, Obama stood by his recent statements that he'll use executive action to enact changes before the end of the year, but told host Bob Schieffer that he still wants Congress to act on the issue, too.

"I prefer and still prefer to see it done through Congress, but every day that I wait we're misallocating resources," said Obama. "We're deporting people that shouldn't be deported. We're not deporting folks that are dangerous and need to be deported."

The president said both sides agree something has to be done on immigration. "We've been talking about it, for years now, in terms of fixing it," said Obama. "We need to be able to secure our border ... And we need to make sure that the millions of people who are here, many who've been here for a decade or more, and have American kids and for all practical purposes are part of our community, that they pay a fine, they pay any penalties, they learn English, they get to the back of the line, but they have a capacity to legalize themselves here."

Everyone agrees, Obama said, that the U.S. doesn't have the capacity to deport 11 million people.

Obama had said this summer that he planned to use executive action to change the immigration system. After pressure from Democrats running for re-election in heavily Republican states, as NPR's Mara Liasson reported, he later announced that he'd delay until after the midterm elections.

The delay didn't seem to do much to help Democrats, as Republican candidates went on to sweep those midterms. Now, Obama is returning to his previously-announced plans for executive action.

Republican congressional leaders aren't pleased with Obama's talk of executive action. Staff members in House Speaker John Boehner's office have warned the president against using executive orders to pursue immigration reform, calling it "executive amnesty."

Elections

Obama

CBS