Critics decry Bush talks with China president

"The president failed to make any significant progress in talks with his Chinese counterpart," complained Kevin Kearns, the president of the US Business and Industry Council, which represents around 1,500 small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

Officials at the National Association of Manufacturers were only slightly less gloomy.

"This really sounds like a missed opportunity," said Frank Vargo, international vice president for the manufacturers' group. "We were really hoping that significant progress would be made so that both governments would begin to work together to address this very large trade imbalance."

And on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are pushing a variety of measures that would punish China for its current practices, lawmakers expressed disappointment in the outcome of Thursday's half-day summit at the White House.

"I am extremely disappointed that President Hu did not commit to take concrete steps to allow China's currency to reflect market forces," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is sponsoring legislation that would withhold certain economic benefits from China if it does not move faster on currency reform.

Hu was wrapping up his four-day visit to America with a speech Friday at Yale University.

Protesters, including human rights activists and members of Falun Gong, a banned religious movement in China, planned protests a block or two away from where Hu was to speak. Security plans had called for protesters to gather on the city green, further away from the speech and off Yale grounds, but university officials made a rare exception and allowed protests on the historic Old Campus.

Hu spent Tuesday and Wednesday making stops in Washington state, including visits with officials of Microsoft Corp. and Boeing Co., in an effort to emphasize support for expanded US exports to China.

Many American manufacturers contend that the Chinese yuan is undervalued by as much as 40 percent, making Chinese products cheaper for American consumers and American goods more expensive in China.

At the White House, Hu made it clear that he had not come to offer any new commitments. "We have taken measures and we will continue to take steps to properly resolve the issue," Hu said.