As President Hu Jintao breakfasts in Washington today, US President George W. Bush will be putting the final touches on a long list of requests for the Chinese leader.
Topping the list will be an appeal for China to allow the yuan to float - the Americans claim that the undervalued currency has acerbated America's ballooning US$200 billion trade imbalance with the mainland.
The White House will also ask China to take more seriously the practice of US copyright infringements - particularly the mass production of pirated DVDs of Hollywood films, which hit the streets of Beijing and Shanghai weeks before the films are released in Asia. Then there'll be a presidential appeal for more public support from Beijing against Iran's plan to build a full-scale nuclear arsenal.
With precious few friends internationally, and the worst domestic opinion polls in modern times, the US president needs all the friends he can get. Meanwhile, President Hu hopes to convince Congress, and the American people at large, that China's rising profile around the world is no threat to them.
Mr Hu's meeting with Mr Bush will be the fifth since May last year. But the Pentagon is not making things easy for either leader.
In February, Chinese military officials were enflamed by the publication of the US Defence Department's Quadrennial Defence Review. The long-term strategy review stated: 'Of the major and emerging powers, China has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time offset traditional US military advantages.'