Landmark trip looks to future
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President Hu Jintao embarks on his long-expected four-day state visit to the United States on Tuesday, with the number of bilateral and global issues on the agenda putting it firmly in the international spotlight.
Observers said the visit will not only help reset bilateral ties after a rocky year, but will also help set the direction for Sino-US ties in a transformational era.
Hu's four-day visit includes stays in Washington and Chicago. It will be the first time that Hu has paid a state visit to the US since Barack Obama took office two years ago, yet it will be the eighth time that the two leaders have met for talks over the past two years, a frequency that some White House officials have described as "rare in modern US diplomacy".
Chinese President Hu Jintao visits the United States on Jan. 18-21 for a visit that is being billed as the most important U.S.-China summit since Deng Xiaoping's visit to Washington 30 years ago.
The Hu-Obama meeting will mainly focus on thorny bilateral issues including US arms sales to Taiwan and the bilateral trade imbalance, regional issues including the Korean Peninsula, and international issues including global economic governance and climate change.
Hu is also expected to meet local students and businesspeople in Chicago, Obama's hometown.
The Associated Press reported that Hu is to be feted in Washington with a lavish state banquet at the White House and other pomp usually reserved for close friends and allies - all of which, as the agency interprets, are intended to improve the tone of relations between a rising and prosperous China and a US superpower in a tenuous economic recovery.
Besides normal procedures involved for a state visit, the White House is also making extra efforts to ensure the success of the visit.
These arrangements include a small-scale private dinner for Obama and Hu on the day of Hu's arrival to allow for a frank and private discussion, which will help test the waters for the following day's talks.
First Lady Michelle Obama will also talk with US youngsters to encourage them to study in China, part of the plan announced by her husband during his state visit to China in November 2009 when he promised to increase the number of US youngsters learning in China to 100,000 by 2015.
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