President Bush failed to win a commitment from Chinese President Hu Jintao today on immediate steps to reduce China's $202 billion trade surplus with the United States.
Mr Hu did give Mr Bush a general assurance he was working to make the Chinese currency more "flexible", but this fell far short of US demands for a dramatic revaluation of the yuan as a way to make US products more competitive in Chinese and global markets and reduce the trade imbalance.
The two leaders also failed to bridge differences over how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions. Mr Bush wants China to agree to tougher UN Security Council action, but his arguments did not persuade Mr Hu.
Speaking in the Oval Office, the two leaders said their bilateral relationship had matured and they could discuss differences openly. "He tells me what he thinks, and I tell him what I think, and we do so with respect," Mr Bush said.
On a long-awaited visit to the White House, Mr Hu received the 21-gun salute and full military honours the Chinese had coveted as a sign of respect.
But in an embarrassing episode that marred the South Lawn ceremony and created a diplomatic stir, a Chinese woman on a press camera platform heckled Mr Hu just as he began speaking.
"President Hu, your days are numbered. President Bush, make him stop persecuting Falun Gong," she yelled, referring to the spiritual meditation movement that is banned in China.
She was led away by a Secret Service uniformed guard for questioning, and was later identified as Wang Wenyi (47), a reporter for the Epoch Times, a New York-based newspaper that supports the Falun Gong.