U.S. President Barrack Obama (R) and Republican presidential candidateMitt Romneyattend the first presidential debate at Denver University, Denver, Colorado, theUnited States, Oct. 3, 2012. (Xinhua/Zhang Jun)

The two U.S. presidential candidates on Wednesday fought hand-to-hand over economic topics including job creation and the government deficit during their first presidential debate held in Denver, Colorado.

President Barack Obama, from the Democratic Party, who is seeking his reelection, said the United States has been back to economic growth and job creation, as the nation's private sector has created about 5 million job opportunities in the past 30 months.

"I also want to close those loopholes that are giving incentives for companies that are shipping jobs overseas. I want to provide tax breaks for companies that are investing here in the United States," he said.

The United States should strengthen the middle class to bolster the economic recovery, and reduce the government's deficit in a balanced way including cutting government outlays and tax increase that were strongly opposed by Mitt Romney, Obama stressed.

The Republican challenger Romney blasted Obama on his failed economic policies, which Romney said had led to higher gasoline and food prices, lower U.S. household income and spiking federal government debt.

Romney stressed his five-point plan to create millions of new jobs in the next four years, including achieving North America's energy independence, opening new foreign markets for U.S. goods and services, slashing government spending and reducing taxes on small businesses.

Obama and Romney will hold three debates on Oct. 3, Oct. 16 and Oct. 22 before the election day, while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Romney's running mate Paul Ryan will hold a debate on Oct. 11.

Experts believe that the U.S. economy has revamped over the past four years despite lingering challenges for the nation including high unemployment rate hovering at 8.1 percent and slow economic growth pace at 1.3 percent in the second quarter of this year.