Obama hosts China’s Hu at rare private White House meal

Trade between the US and China is worth $400bn, up from $100m 30 years ago, when the US formalised relations with the communist state.

The US is also encouraging China to buy tens of billions of dollars of aircraft from Boeing, car parts, agricultural goods and beef.

A series of deals on bilateral trade, energy, environmental protection, infrastructure building, and cultural exchanges are expected to be signed during the visit, Chinese state media reported.

Meanwhile, US senators have been pressing Congress to penalise Beijing for “manipulating” its currency.

They say it is important to punish China if it does not allow the yuan to rise in value rather than manage its exchange rate – making Chinese products cheaper in the US and raising the price of US goods in China.

Mr Hu earlier said the yuan was not undervalued, and that China had adopted a “managed floating exchange rate regime” determined by the balance of international payments and supply and demand.

He also questioned the role of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency and criticised US monetary policy, saying that by keeping interest rates low, the Federal Reserve was devaluing the dollar and creating inflation elsewhere.

Members of Congress have also highlighted China’s human rights record.