The United States and China will try to set the stage for a smoother relationship during a visit by China’s likely next president, but neither side is under illusions about resolving deep disputes.

Vice President Xi Jinping, who is in line to be the fast-growing Asian power’s leader until 2023, will enjoy treatment usually reserved for a head of state including a White House meeting Tuesday (local time) by President Barack Obama.

In a bid to show a softer image both at home and abroad, Xi will also tour Iowa to mingle with Midwesterners he met years ago on a first U.S. visit as well as Los Angeles where he will greet young Americans who are learning Chinese.

With China’s transition and U.S. elections approaching later this year, White House officials said they did not expect major announcements and pledged to make clear to Xi the longstanding U.S. concerns on a range of issues.

“It’s mostly an investment in relationship-building, even as it’s also an opportunity to continue to press the items on our agenda with the Chinese,” said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser.

U.S. politicians have persistently raised complaints about Beijing’s currency value, saying it is kept artificially low to boost exports, along with what they see as weak protections for intellectual property.

The United States has also been concerned over human rights, including the communist state’s growing detentions of critics and clampdown in Tibetan areas, and was stung when China backed Russia in vetoing a U.N. resolution that would have pressed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end escalating violence.

Still, the Obama administration has put a priority on reaching out to Xi in hopes of a more cooperative future relationship between the two powers. Vice President Joe Biden toured China in August and spent around 10 hours in total with Xi, a highly unusual amount of time in an era of whistle-stop diplomacy.

“In Asia generally, but in China certainly, relationships matter, and high-level relationships particularly matter,” said Danny Russel, Obama’s top adviser on Asia policy.

“It allows us to set expectations to reduce misunderstandings. It helps us to build confidence and avoid surprises in either direction,” he said.

Chinese leaders have been deeply suspicious of U.S. intentions. Obama, despite budget pressure at home, has put a priority on boosting military strength in Asia with plans for more U.S. troops in the Philippines and Australia amid charges that Beijing is increasingly assertive toward its neighbors.

In a recent speech, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai warned of a “trust deficit” between the two countries and called on both sides to “seriously address” the gap.

Nina Hachigian, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, warned of a “dangerous dynamic” in which economically insecure Americans see China as more of a threat than it is, fueling fears among Chinese that the United States wants to contain it.

Hachigian said that U.S. leaders, while pressing China to follow “international norms and rules,” also had the opportunity to show Xi that the United States welcomes a prosperous China.

“If we don’t trust each other’s motives ― which we don’t ― then having that personal connection and understanding can temper our suspicions to some degree,” she said.

Despite the focus on Xi, officials and experts said that China’s system was too opaque to know if he would seek ― or even be able ― to make changes once he succeeds President Hu Jintao.

Barry Sautman, an associate professor at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said that Xi’s public record put him “straight down the middle” and that he is unlikely “to sharply depart from the current policy mindset that exists among Chinese leaders.”

Derek Scissors, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, said it was uncertain how much influence Xi would hold on the Politburo’s decision-making Standing Committee.

China is increasingly ruled by leadership consensus and Xi lacks the standing of Hu, who rose through the ranks with the blessing of Deng Xiaoping, modern China’s seminal leader, Scissors said.

“It’s like insurance,” Scissors said of Xi’s visit. “If he turns out to be that important, then it’s good to build up a rapport ― it can’t possibly hurt. But the personality traits are secondary to his position within the party.” (AFP)