Hu state visit filled with pomp, ceremony

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao's U.S. visit will include pomp and ceremony unseen when the Bush administration did not designate his 2006 visit a state visit.

The Obama administration plans two dinners for Hu, an intimate White House meal Tuesday night, the day of Hu's Washington arrival, followed by an opulent state dinner Wednesday, the White House said.

Former President George W. Bush held a lunch for Hu rather than a state dinner in April 2006.

Hu will attend a U.S. State Department luncheon hosted by Vice President Joe Biden, hold a joint news conference with President Barack Obama, appear with Obama before U.S. and Chinese business leaders, and meet with Republican and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, the White House said.

Obama will take a firm stance in many areas as he greets the president of America's biggest global economic rival, U.S. officials told The New York Times. The more assertive strategy comes after Obama was criticized as appearing to kowtow to China in his 2009 visit there, the Times said.

Hu told The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post he wanted to improve China's cooperation with the United States in areas such as aviation, energy and infrastructure development. He said the U.S.-led monetary system was a "product of the past."

General Electric Co. plans Friday to sign a joint-venture agreement to share its most sophisticated airplane electronics with a state-owned Chinese company, the Times reported Tuesday. The deal includes sharing technology used in Boeing Co.'s new, fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner, the world's first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction

Energy deals between U.S. and Chinese companies could be announced this week, the Journal said.

Chinese and U.S. businesses signed $574 million in trade agreements Monday. The deals, signed in Houston, include sales of cotton and porcelain and an agreement to collaborate on development of solar power equipment, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.