When President Barack Obama arrives in China later this month, he'll head first to its booming commercial capital Shanghai. U.S.-Chinese economic ties are increasingly important to the two countries' overall relationship, so much so, that some believe Washington purposefully avoids raising contentious issues with China in an effort to curry favor with its leaders.

From shopping malls in the United States, stocked with Chinese-made goods, to busy Chinese factories where the goods are made, it's evident the two countries rely heavily on each other.

Economist Nicholas LardyAnd despite the global financial crisis, the United States remains China's most reliable customer, and Beijing, the world's biggest buyer of U.S. government debt.  

Economist Nicholas Lardy says China's unwillingness to adopt derivative loans and other high-risk financial products helped to shield it from the impact of the world economic downturn.  It also dramatically changed its relationship with the United States.  

"Now of course the Chinese are beginning to lecture us," Lardy says, "about how we need to balance our budget, and preserve the value of the dollar and avoid inflation... So, in a sense the shoe is really on the other foot."

China's economy is expected to grow by more than eight percent this year, and its overall resilience to the global financial crisis, has brought with it increasing confidence in the international arena.  

China is now a key player in dealing with global issues, whether it's helping to resurrect the global economy or combating climate change. That leads some to accuse the Obama administration of going out of its way to avoid offending Beijing.  

Critics note that when the Dalai Lama recently visited the United States, President Obama delayed his meeting with the Nobel peace laureate until after his upcoming trip to China. They also say Washington has avoided the tough talk of previous administrations about the value of China's currency.  

Randy Schriver is head of the Washington-based research group Project 2049. He says the Obama administration's approach may not ultimately pay off. "I think that they are taking a calculated risk and it is one that I would not advocate myself," Schriver said.

Ethnic unrest in China, freedom of religion, human rights and other contentious issues are topics that critics say Washington should still raise with Beijing.

"It's a presumption that these are obstacles to cooperation, which in fact I think China has enough of their own interests and equities in - for example the economic situation - to cooperate irrespective of what we do on some of these other issues," Schriver states.

The value of the Chinese currency has long been a divisive issue, with China frequently accused of undervaluing its yuan to make its exports cheaper.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama accused China of currency manipulation. But the Treasury Department now is only expressing "serious concerns" about the "flexibility" of China's currency, avoiding harsher accusations.  

Yet Nicholas Szechenyi of the Center for Strategic and International Studies says Washington's softer approach is not all soft. "It certainly seems, that the administration is trying to address issues of human rights a little less, to work more on economic issues, and other global issues such as climate change.  

On the other hand, you do have this strong push on tires and perhaps even steel on the trade front. So I think it is a question of balance. And what you choose to engage the Chinese on."

In September, Washington slapped tariffs on tire imports from China and is investigating the price of Chinese steel sold in the United States. China retaliated with a tariff of its own and has also launched probes of U.S. imports of chicken and auto parts.

Some warn the measures could trigger a trade war. Others say they represent more normal trade relations.  

Either way, it raises the question of which country needs the other more?

This is what Douglas Spelman at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington thinks, "You know frankly, 10 years ago, I would have said that China needed us more than we needed them. I think now that it is a genuinely interdependent relationship," he says, "certainly on the economic front."  

Still, Mr. Obama's critics say his trip to China will be a test of whether the U.S and China can develop better ties, and whether American acquiescence on some issues will produce concrete results on others.