China has become a political byword in the United States for both economic competition and strategic rivalry. While differing on approach, few US politicians have kind words for China on issues from trade to human rights.

People planning the state visit said the usually formal Hu will reach out to ordinary Americans including with a stop to President Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago, where he will showcase a Chinese-run factory creating jobs.

Most Washington-based China watchers believe that Beijing remains sensitive about its image overseas, and that its sometimes shrill denunciations of international criticism is meant largely for domestic consumption.

"The Chinese government and intellectuals read our media very carefully and I think there is concern on their part that coverage has been overwhelmingly negative, particularly in the past year," said Nina Hachigian, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who served in Bill Clinton's White House.

Hachigian believed that the Obama administration also wanted to tone down the anti-China sentiment as it saw Beijing -- in the lingo of the Facebook era -- as a "frenemy," a competitor that is also a critical partner on issues from Iran to climate change.

"This negativity can snowball on both sides of the Pacific and take a life of its own," she said.

Obama will offer Hu the pomp of a White House state visit, including a gun salute and a formal dinner. Obama's predecessor George W. Bush only offered a lunch to Hu, reserving state visits for leaders of democracies.

Some experts wondered whether a Chinese charm offensive could work in light of human rights concerns. Protesters, including Tibetans and Uighurs alarmed over treatment by China, are expected to rally throughout Hu's visit.

Bonnie Glaser, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that Obama was rolling out the red carpet for the leader jailing the latest Nobel Peace laureate -- writer and dissident Liu Xiaobo.

"That's an extremely awkward juxtaposition to say the least," Glaser said.

Glaser said that Hu's domestic audience wanted to see him as a "good, responsible steward" of relations with the United States, a year before his presidency ends.

"I think the Chinese were unnerved by the discussions here that took place in the run-up to the midterm elections about China stealing our jobs and I think they would like to try and shape that narrative in a more positive direction," she said.

US politicians across the spectrum have taken swipes at China in recent months.

Lawmakers of Obama's Democratic Party ran advertisements ahead of the November elections warning that free trade deals sent factories to China. On the other end, a group opposed to Obama's stimulus spending ran commercials depicting a Chinese professor in 2030 who lets out a sinister laugh as he tells students how Beijing took over the United States by buying its debt.

A poll conducted this month by the Pew Research Center found that nearly half of Americans believed China was the world's leading economic power, more than said so about their own country and a sharp change from a few years ago.

However, the survey found no spike in US hostility, with only 22 percent of Americans seeing China as an adversary. Views of China were more hostile in parts of Europe and especially in Asian neighbors such as Japan and India.

Cheng Li, director of research at the Brooking Institution's John L. Thornton China Center, said that despite China's growing clout, it still relied on the United States in areas such as trade and technology.

"Some criticisms of China are valid, some may not be," he said. "But the atmosphere may not be enhancing public understanding in both countries on their relationship."

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