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By Caren Bohan

SYDNEY, Sept 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Thursday he and Chinese President Hu Jintao had discussed currency and exchange rates during talks ahead of an Asia-Pacific summit.

Bush had said a day earlier in Sydney that China could help reduce trade imbalances by floating its currency. The weakness of China's yuan has been an irritant in Sino-U.S. relations.

In a joint appearance before reporters following their meeting, Hu said about Taiwan: "President Bush also explicitly stated the U.S. position consistent with a position of opposing any changes in the status quo (of the island)."

Taiwan voters are set to decide next March on a referendum on seeking U.N. membership. China regards the self-ruled island as part of its territory, and has vowed to reunite Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary.

The United States dropped ties with Taiwan more than 30 years ago when it normalised relations with China, but it has also pledged to help defend the island and opposes its bid for U.N. membership as a dangerous provocation of Beijing.

After an hour-and-a-half meeting with Hu, Bush said: "We talked about Iran and North Korea and Sudan. We talked about climate change and our desire to work together on climate change ... We also talked about currency and exchange rates."

Bush said the two had also discussed product safety and that Hu was "quite articulate" on the subject. In recent months, the quality of Chinese exports to the United States has come under a spotlight following a series of product recalls.

Hu said climate change was an important issue with implications for sustainable development and said it should be tackled through stronger international cooperation.

Bush has insisted on the importance of getting China, a fast-growing developing economy, onboard for any international effort to control global warming.

China is coming under increasing international criticism over its carbon dioxide emissions, expected to overtake U.S. emissions by 2008. But its leaders have rejected caps on output for fear they will cramp growth.

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