WASHINGTON -- Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to the United States comes at a time of particularly tense relations between Beijing and Washington, including a stark dispute over the bombing of Yugoslavia.

China has called for an immediate halt to the NATO airstrikes, and Chinese leaders even considered postponing Zhu's six-city, nine-day visit that was beginning on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Even so, Zhu still hopes to close a deal with the Clinton administration to allow Beijing to join the World Trade Organization, which regulates international trade, after 13 years of trying.

In advance of his coming to Washington on Thursday, U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators worked furiously to try to strike a deal that could be announced during the visit.

Zhu also will visit Denver, Chicago, New York and Boston, courting the political and business elite at each stop. He may observe financial markets, possibly the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade.

China hopes to attract the foreign investment needed to help its slowing economy.

While in Washington, Zhu was to dine with Clinton on Thursday evening, hold meetings with officials of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and meet on Friday with a handful of lawmakers back early from the two-week congressional recess.

"We hope that they will understand better the importance of China-U.S. relations," said Yu Shuning, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy.

Criticism in Congress of China's human rights record is bipartisan and widespread.

Adding to the tensions are concerns over alleged Chinese nuclear espionage, Pentagon reports of a missile buildup against Taiwan and alleged Chinese campaign contributions to Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign.
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