US President Barack Obama has pressed China's leader-in-waiting on the issues of bilateral trade and human rights, as he welcomed him to the White House.
Meeting Vice-President Xi Jinping in the Oval Office, Mr Obama also said it was "vital" that Washington maintained a strong relationship with Beijing.
Mr Xi said he hoped his visit would deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the two powers.
The US and China have been at odds over trade, currency and human rights.
Mr Xi, 58, is widely expected to succeed President Hu Jintao, who must retire as head of the Communist Party later this year and from the presidency in 2013.
'Sound and stable'
Mr Obama received the Chinese vice-president at the White House on Tuesday ahead of a luncheon at the state department.Mr Xi is making the week-long trip as a guest of US Vice-President Joe Biden, who made a high-profile visit to China late last year.
Earlier in the day, Mr Xi met Mr Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the White House's Roosevelt Room.
Mr Biden said that while "we are not always going to see eye to eye", both nations would speak "candidly" about their differences.
"We have very important economic and political concerns that warrant that we work together," he added.
Mr Xi also will meet Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. On Wednesday, he will travel to Iowa to meet his hosts from his first visit to the US in 1985 when he was a county official.
He is also scheduled to visit a farm in Iowa on Thursday before flying to Los Angeles, California, to meet business leaders there.
Correspondents say the US-China relationship has become an increasingly delicate one over a series of security and economic issues.
Washington has been putting pressure on Beijing over the value of its currency and turning the heat up on what it has called unfair trade practices.
His visit comes a year after Mr Hu's trip to Washington, which he referred to in his comments provided by the Chinese government to The Washington Post.
In his remarks to the newspaper, Mr Xi also sounded a note of warning to the US over its military stance in the Pacific. He said scaling up military activity was not what the region wanted to see.
'Frictions and differences'
China and the US, Mr Xi said, had ''converging interests'' in the region and there was ''ample space'' for both in the Pacific Ocean."We also hope that the United States will fully respect and accommodate the major interest and legitimate concerns of Asia-Pacific countries," he wrote.
Washington has been putting pressure on Beijing over the value of its currency and turning the heat up on what it has called unfair trade practices.
In his remarks to the newspaper, Mr Xi emphasised that China had taken ''active steps'' to address these concerns.
''Frictions and differences are hardly avoidable in our economic and trade interactions,'' he said.
''We must not allow frictions and differences to undermine the larger interests of our business co-operation.''
Mr Xi's trip also comes amid increased tension over protests and tightened security in Tibet.
Human rights activists staged a protest outside the White House, carrying banners that read "Tibet will be free".
Mr Xi is also scheduled to visit Ireland and Turkey, following the US trip
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