Hu Jintao's first official visit to Washington as China's president was an opportunity to build on his good relationship with President George W. Bush and to demonstrate how China will make the world a better place as its economic and political impact grows. Much of the preparation for the summit concerned the atmospherics, and once in the US Mr Hu was relentlessly "on message", expressing a positive vision for China's future with America. But in the wake of the meeting, it is clear that the pomp did not fit the circumstance.

To be fair, there was some progress on trade. Beijing pointed favourably to its $16bn-plus buying spree of American goods in the run-up to the summit. Mr Hu also made somewhat encouraging public noises regarding the undervalued Chinese renminbi and placed a welcome emphasis on his country's ongoing effort to boost domestic demand - a move that will have some effect on the burgeoning US trade deficit with China.