President Hu Jintao yesterday tried to persuade often hostile US lawmakers that China is a threat-free engine of growth after a White House summit sought to narrow rifts between the world's top two economies.
Fresh from banquet toasts with President Barack Obama on Wednesday night, Hu began day three of his four-day state visit with a trip to Congress, a hotbed of criticism of Beijing's policy of holding down the value of its yuan currency and of its human rights record.
Beijing residents said BBC and CNN television broadcasts of the summit went blank when the topic switched to human rights.
In the past week, China's central bank has repeatedly set the daily midpoint for the yuan at record highs, but offshore forwards, which imply yuan appreciation against the dollar in one year, were little changed, underscoring investor doubts that the central bank would allow the yuan to continue rising after Hu's visit.
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