President Barack Obama‘s time in Hawaii for APEC is set to be a bit of a whirlwind. 

Among the many meetings and events he’s scheduled to attend, Obama is planning to have bilateral meetings with both Russia President Dmitry Medvedev and with China leader Hu Jintao.

White House spokesman Ben Rhodes explained the significance of the latter meeting to reporters during a briefing in Washington Wednesday afternoon.

“As always with the Chinese, it’s an important opportunity to discuss our economic agenda,” Rhodes said. “Including our efforts to sustain global growth through a rebalancing of global demand as well as a range of regional security issues.”