President Bush welcomed the Chinese President to the White House today - if not with all the panoply of a state visit then at least with full military honours.

It is Hu Jintao's first visit to Washington as Chinese leader, and he smiled broadly and acknowledged the crowds as he and his wife stepped out of their black limousine onto the red carpet.

The smooth progress of the visit was interrupted, however, when a woman of Chinese appearance in a dark green suit launched herself from a roped off area on the lawn, shouting, in an attempt to prevent Mr Hu from making a speech.

"Falun Dafa is good!" the woman screamed, as Mr Hu was making his opening remarks. "President Bush, stop him from persecuting!" Her voice was so loud that Mr Bush turned to look, appearing visibly embarrassed.

Within seconds she was led away, struggling and still crying out, by a group of uniformed White House staff.

The Falun Gong-affiliated newspaper, The Epoch Times, later identified her as Dr Wang Wenyi, a pathologist and Falun Gong practitioner based in New York. She had received a press credential through the newspaper.

Mr Bush, standing next to Mr Hu, leaned over and whispered to him: "You’re okay", indicating the Chinese leader should continue with his opening remarks. Mr Hu, who had paused briefly when the shouting began, resumed speaking.

In another small diplomatic gaffe, China's national anthem was announced as the Republic of China's - Taiwain's official title - instead of its correct name, the People's Republic of China.

The interruption is likely to displease the Chinese visitors, already annoyed by the US decision to downgrade the status of Mr Hu's stay.

The differences were small but symbolic. The lamp-posts outside Blair House, the official guest house for White House visitors, did not carry the twinned flags of the visiting head of state and the US as they would on a state visit.

Before the interruption, the two presidents had inspected the troops on parade, then ascended a podium to listen to their respective national anthems. As flags stirred lazily behind them, Mr Bush made a slightly pointed speech, pausing from time to time for his words to be translated into Chinese.

The record $200 billion trade deficit between China and the US has been a source of anger among US business leaders and politicians ahead of Mr Hu's visit. They say that the trade gap is exacerbated by China's firm control over its exchange rate, which ensures that the Chinese currency is kept undervalued against the dollar.

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