U.S. President Barack Obama says he will talk to Chinese leaders about human rights when he visits China in the coming days as part of his first Asian tour since taking office.

Mr. Obama told the Reuters news agency that he has brought up the issue of human rights in past meetings with Chinese officials and will do so again on his upcoming visit. Critics have accused him of neglecting China's rights record to try to gain support from Beijing on other issues.

President Obama says climate change and trade also will be high on his agenda when he visits Shanghai and Beijing from November 15 to 18.

Mr. Obama begins his Asian tour with a two-day visit to Japan starting Friday. He travels Saturday to Singapore for a summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. He is due to end the tour with a two-day visit to South Korea next week.