The Chinese President Hu Jintao was accorded a red carpet welcome by the US after he arrived on a four-day state visit, even as lawmakers introduced legislation against yuan manipulation.

The US Vice President Joe Biden was himself present at the Andrews Air Force Base to greet the Chinese President Tuesday evening, reflecting the high priority the Obama Administration attaches to its relationship with China.

The Chinese leader said the purpose of his visit is to enhance mutual trust, promote friendship, deepen cooperation and move forward the positive, cooperative and comprehensive Sino-US relationship for the 21st century.

“I look forward to having in-depth discussions with President (Barack) Obama on China-US relations and major international and regional issues of shared interest,” Hu said in a statement after his arrival.

Obama will host Hu to the state dinner at the White House — the first for a Chinese leader in 13 years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon were among the few attending the private dinner

“I think that the work that we started in this administration to build a positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship is creating a strong foundation. We will have differences. Any two people, let alone two countries as great as our two countries are, will have differences,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

“But we want to create very peaceful ways of resolving those differences. We want not only to have good relations between our governments and our leaders, but good relationships between our people. I have always thought that the American and Chinese people had a lot in common,” she said.

The US Secretary of State said she believes that after 30 years of hard work between the two countries in developing relationships, they are now poised to determine how the US and China working together can maintain peace not just in Asia, but around the world.

The two countries also aim to help the economy to grow so that more people have a chance to “live satisfying, comfortable lives.”