Despite several embarrassing gaffes, the first official visit to the White House by President Hu Jintao went off relatively well.
The Chinese side took pains to smooth the road to Washington by sending ahead a buying mission that visited 14 American cities and signed contracts valued at US$16.2 billion.
Further, in response to criticism about inadequate protection of intellectual property rights, Chinese computer makers, including Lenovo, signed deals to install licensed Windows software in computers before they are sold.
This was not enough to placate congressional critics, who demand a substantial revaluation of the yuan as a move to reduce the American trade deficit. But it did generate considerable goodwill in the business community. Mr Hu received a warm welcome in Seattle, where he met Boeing executives and was wined and dined by Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft.
Although no breakthroughs resulted from the talks between US President George W. Bush and Mr Hu, indications are that the two sides are moving closer towards a strategic partnership - something envisaged by former president Bill Clinton and repudiated by Mr Bush in his first term.
Mr Bush said the United States and China 'shared many strategic interests'. This was echoed by Mr Hu, who said an 'important agreement' had been reached by the two sides, and that 'China and the United States share extensive, common strategic interests'.
But the meticulous care taken by China to ensure the success of the presidential visit was not matched by the American side. Things started to go wrong shortly after Mr Hu's arrival. The White House announcer declared that the band would play 'the national anthem of the Republic of China'.