US first lady Michelle Obama told Chinese professors, students and parents yesterday that she wouldn't have risen to where she was if her parents hadn't pushed for her to get a good education.

Mrs Obama made her comments before hosting a discussion about education on the third day of a weeklong visit to the country aimed at promoting educational exchanges between the US and China.

She also walked a section of the Great Wall with her two daughters.

"Education is an important focus for me. It's personal, because I wouldn't be where I am today without my parents investing and pushing me to get a good education," she said. "My parents were not educated themselves, but one of the things they understood was that my brother and I needed that foundation."

She said she and her husband wanted as many young people as possible in the US and the world to have access to education.

She then hosted a roundtable with a handful of Chinese professors, students and parents at an event at the US Embassy in Beijing that was attended by new US Ambassador to China Max Baucus.

During the private discussion, Mrs Obama asked about China's college entrance exam and how easy it was for graduates to find work, and expressed hopes that society would pay more attention to the disabled and that more students from ethnic minorities would participate in exchanges between the two countries.

In the afternoon, she visited part of the Great Wall in the northern Beijing suburbs with her daughters, 15-year-old Malia and 12-year-old Sasha, and her mother Marian Robinson. There, the first lady and her daughters walked a stretch of the wall.

Mrs Obama has been photographed at famous spots including the Forbidden City and Great Wall during the first independent trip by a US president's wife to China. She has won compliments for her elegant clothing and her interactions with ordinary people.

"She is very warm and frank, and when she is talking to people she conscientiously listens to what they have to say," said Wu Qing, a retired professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University who met Mrs Obama yesterday.

"In China, we usually use weather to express our mood or state of mind, so the fact the weather has been so nice these few days means she is very welcome in China," Wu said.

On Saturday Mrs Obama brought up a contentious issue in a 15-minute speech at Peking University's Stanford Center.

She said freedom of speech and unfettered access to information make countries stronger and should be universal rights.

Mrs Obama on Friday toured an elite Beijing high school in the company of Chinese President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan. Tomorrow, she will visit a high school in Chengdu.