Xi Jinping Pledges to Work With U.S. to Stop Cybercrimes.

SEATTLE — President Xi Jinping pledged in a speech here on Tuesday night to work with the United States on fighting cybercrime, saying that the Chinese government was a staunch defender of cybersecurity.

“The Chinese government will not in whatever form engage in commercial theft, and hacking against government networks are crimes that must be punished in accordance with the law and relevant international treaties,” Mr. Xi said in an address to American business executives.

At the end of his first day of a state visit to the United States, Mr. Xi told his audience, which also included Chinese business leaders, that “China is ready to set up a high-level joint dialogue mechanism with the United States on fighting cybercrimes.”

Mr. Xi appeared to be attempting to reassure his business audience, many of its members from tech industries at the forefront of cyberspace issues, but how far his words would be believed by the Obama administration remained to be seen.

At a briefing for reporters in Washington on Tuesday, a senior China adviser to President Obama said that “we won’t paper over those differences,” a reference to cyberspace and economic issues. There would be “very robust discussion” with Mr. Xi, said the adviser, Daniel J. Kritenbrink.

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