SHANGHAI US President Barack Obama on Monday pushed for an unshackled Internet and expanded political freedoms, seeking to get around China's media curbs with a webcast town hall event in booming Shanghai.

Obama also said the United States and China, two economically interlocked rivals, need not be adversaries, appealing to millions of Chinese web surfers on the first day of his first visit to what he termed “a majestic country”.

“I have always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I am a big supporter of non-censorship,” Obama said, before flying to Beijing for a welcome dinner and talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

“I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger a society becomes,” said Obama in a nation where communist authorities have for months blocked Internet sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Obama's decision to tap the power of the web was symbolic the grassroots movement that powered his capture of the White House in 2008 was largely built on Internet freedoms restricted by the “Great Firewall of China”.

But it was unclear how many Chinese actually saw the event, as it was not televised nationally — though was shown on Shanghai local television — and was only carried as a live transcript on the website of state agency Xinhua.

On Chinese state television's evening news, Obama's visit was not mentioned until 25 minutes into the broadcast. CCTV carried images of his arrival in Beijing, but made no mention of his remarks in Shanghai.

The White House streamed the event live on its website, but officials did not immediately say how many Chinese web surfers logged on.

The president fielded questions from his audience of university students as well as Internet users, speaking on subjects ranging from “universal rights” and Taiwan to Chinese NBA basketball star Yao Ming.

Audience members, while showing great respect for Obama, rarely asked questions deviating from the official Chinese government line, and the forum appeared tightly controlled by the authorities.

The most interesting question — on Internet freedoms — came via email, and was read out to Obama by the US ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman.

Having been accused of downplaying rights concerns to appease China, Obama called for the observance of “universal rights” of political expression, religious freedom and free information everywhere.

“They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China, or any nation,” Obama said, though he noted that his own country was not perfect.

Obama is in the midst of a weeklong Asia trip. He came with a vast agenda of security, economic and environmental concerns, although always looming was how he would deal with human rights while in China.

His China visit features the only sightseeing of his journey. He will visit the Forbidden City, home of former emperors in Beijing, and the centuries-old Great Wall outside of the city. Aides have learned that finding some tourist time calms and energises their boss amid the gruelling schedule of an international trip.

The White House hoped Monday's town hall meeting with Chinese university students would allow Obama to telegraph US values — through its successes and failures — to the widest Chinese audience possible.

But those hopes had their limits in communist-ruled China.—Agencies