Speaking at a Boeing Co. facility north of Seattle on the eve of a White House summit with President Bush, Mr Hu said he wanted to make foreign-exchange markets more efficient. But he said China was not ready for a drastic change in the value of renminbi currency, also known as the yuan.

Revaluing the yuan is a key US demand which officials said is vital to make American exports more competitive, erase an advantage Chinese manufacturers currently enjoy and reduce China's bilateral trade surplus.

US experts said they did not expect a breakthrough on the exchange rate. Rather, they were hoping for slow, steady progress in the months ahead.

The Chinese top leader’s whirlwind 27-hour tour around Seattle included visits at Boeing and Microsoft Corp. and a lavish dinner with 100 business and government leaders at the lakeside estate of Microsoft co-founder and world's richest man, Bill Gates. 

After a tour of Boeing's assembly factory, Mr Hu told about 6,000 employees of the aircraft maker that China would need to buy 600 new planes in the next five years and 2,000 in the next 15. Beijing recently signed a deal with the company to buy 80 jets worth about US$4 billion.

Reuters