SHANGHAI (AFP) - EXCITEMENT was building in Shanghai on Sunday ahead of President Barack Obama's first visit to China, which many expect will raise the US-China relationship to new heights.

Office worker Zhang Yan brought her seven-year-old to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in downtown Shanghai so he could meet the president 'face-to-face'.

'I told him briefly Obama's story,' the 32-year-old said. 'I want to encourage my son to learn from him and his fighting spirit to reach his goal. Obama is probably the most eloquent leader we have ever known,' Mr Zhang said.

Despite a range of trade disputes, the first visit by the American president was 'expected to push Sino-US relations to new heights', Tao Wenzho, a researcher at Beijing's Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

'The Obama administration has made clear that the common interests between the two countries outweigh their differences,' Mr Tao wrote in the China Daily.

Mr Obama was to begin his maiden visit to China in the business hub Shanghai late on Sunday. On Monday, he was to meet with city leaders before meeting Chinese youth in the afternoon, an event due to be broadcast live, the Shanghai Daily reported. Afterwards he was to fly to Beijing to meet Chinese leaders until Wednesday.

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