President Jiang Zemin of China arrives in Washington later today for the highlight of his week-long visit to the US when he meets President Clinton and is tomorrow a guest of honour at a state dinner at the White House. Yesterday Mr Jiang toured Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.
US observers expect the two leaders to reach agreement on exports of nuclear technology to China but say it is unlikely that a wider trade agreement will be possible leading to Chinese membership of the World Trade Organisation and a bigger opening of Chinese markets.
So far there have been minor protests by human rights activists at the visit of Mr Jiang, which began in Hawaii on Sunday with a 21-gun salute. He said in a statement that he believed his visit "will deepen our mutual understanding, broaden our common ground and promote friendship and co-operation between our two countries, and that China-US relations will enter a new stage of development."
In Washington about two dozen people demonstrated outside the White House on Sunday with a prayer vigil. Nine were arrested and later released after a payment of a $50 fine for not having a permit.
Father Patrick Mahoney, director of the pro-life Christian Defence Coalition, who was arrested, said: "When the red carpet is being rolled out, let's remember that the red carpet is stained with blood."
In Honolulu about 200 protesters demonstrated outside the governor's residence where Mr Jiang was attending a formal dinner.
The demonstrators shouted "Free Tibet" and "Human rights now". Inside Mr Jiang plucked at the strings of a steel guitar while his wife sang the Hawaiian tune, Aloha Oe.
Protesters have vowed to dog Mr Jiang's visit, the first by a Chinese president since China's People's Liberation Army crushed pro-democracy student demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989 with a heavy loss of life.
Earlier Mr Jiang had visited Pearl Harbour where he laid a wreath at the monument to US service personnel killed in the Japanese attack on December 7th, 1941. He also dropped a wreath over the site of the sunken USS Arizona.
The Chinese have publicly voiced concern about upgraded military relations in the Pacific between Washington and Tokyo, and Mr Jiang's gesture at Pearl Harbour was clearly made to recall a time when Japan was a significant military threat.
Mr Jiang also swam for about an hour in the Pacific Ocean while his aides enjoyed themselves on the beach.
Bigger protests are planned in Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, said on NBC's Meet The Press that Mr Jiang would not have "a totally fuzzy time at these places". He would "probably see what America's really like . . . a country where people can express their views".
She said if Mr Jiang and his entourage were "not prepared for it, they ought to be because I think that Americans feel very strongly about reported Chinese human rights violations".
While Mr Jiang's visit is expected to improve the tense relationship between Washington and Beijing, some reports said the administration of President Clinton had lowered expectations for the long-awaited summit.