Beijing --- President Bush arrived in the Chinese capital today for talks with President Jiang Zemin centered on the anti-terror war and growing economic ties between the United States and the world's most populous nation.
Bush hopes to shore up those areas of cooperation even as he addresses a litany of often contentious matters, including China's missile sales, its increasingly lopsided trade surplus with the United States, the status of Taiwan, and democratic and human rights issues.
On the eve of his visit, Bush told reporters that he also planned to raise his deep Christian faith in talks meant to impress upon Jiang the importance of religious freedom, a topic of considerable friction in Sino-American relations.
Bush said he made similar comments to Jiang in Shanghai last fall, when the two leaders first met as China hosted the annual summit of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
''I shared with him my faith,'' Bush said Wednesday during a news conference in Seoul with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
''I talked to him on very personal terms about my Christian beliefs,'' Bush said.
''I explained to him that faith had an incredibly important part in my life, and it has a very important part in the lives of all kinds of citizens, and that I would hope that he, as a president of a great nation, would understand the important role of religion in an individual's life.''
China has detained dozens of clergy faithful to the Roman Catholic Church, according to the Vatican. Millions of Chinese attend underground churches.
China's constitution provides for freedom of religious belief. In practice, however, the government seeks to suppress groups that might pose a threat to the authority of the Communist Party.
The government has been particularly harsh on the Falun Gong spiritual movement. During 1999 and 2000, the government imprisoned thousands of Falun Gong adherents, about 100 of whom reportedly died in detention, according to the State Department.
China is the final leg of a weeklong Asia tour that has taken Bush to Japan and South Korea. He arrived 30 years to the day after Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit Communist China.
On that trip, suspicions ran so high in China that Nixon had to land first in the coastal city of Shanghai to pick up a Chinese navigator to accompany the crew as Air Force One flew the rest of the way to Beijing.
While no such requirement attended Bush's journey, trust remains a fragile commodity in U.S.-China relations.
''In the United States, China will find a partner in trade. China will find the respect it deserves as a great nation,'' Bush said Tuesday in a speech to the Japanese parliament. ''And China will find that America speaks for the universal values that gave our nation birth --- the rule of law, freedom of conscience and religion, and the rights and dignity of every life.''
In addition to formal meetings, Bush and Jiang are scheduled to hold a joint news conference today. Jiang also will host a banquet at the Great Hall of the People, the center of the Chinese government.
On Friday, Bush is scheduled to address students at Tsing Hua University in Beijing and to visit the Great Wall before returning to Washington.
In Beijing, Bush will thank Jiang for his country's cooperation in the war on terror. China has supplied intelligence information and diplomatic assistance.
As Bush has broadened his anti-terrorism efforts to include increased emphasis on combating the spread of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, China's record has presented some problems.
As of the middle of last year, China was continuing to supply missile-related equipment, fuel or technical expertise to Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and Libya. All except Pakistan are on the State Department's list of countries that provide official backing to groups the United States regards as terrorist organizations.
Since Sept. 11, Bush has expressed growing concern over the prospect that so-called weapons of mass destruction might fall into the hands of terrorists who would use them to strike the United States or its allies.